Ontario fines SeatGeek $25,000 under ticket resale law that aims to prevent scalping

TORONTO — Ontario has fined ticket reseller SeatGeek Canada $25,000 under a recent law that caps the sale of seats at face value.

The province’s consumer-beware website shows no other fines for ticket resellers, signalling SeatGeek may be the first to face financial repercussions under the anti-scalping law enacted in April.

The government website states SeatGeek was issued the fines in late August.

An outline of the fine says the company was penalized $10,000 for allegedly selling a ticket above face value, $5,000 for failing to disclose the original purchase price of a ticket, and another $10,000 for facilitating a transaction without having proof of the original price.

Cristian Buzo Tingarov, a spokesperson for the Ontario Minister of Public and Business Service Delivery Stephen Crawford, did not answer questions about what event the fines were linked to and whether the province will issue others.

SeatGeek’s vice-president of government affairs Joe Freeman did not say whether the company plans to pay the fines or fight them.

He says SeatGeek is still trying to get guidance from the province around how to comply with the law.

SeatGeek and StubHub, another large ticket reseller, say it’s too difficult for them to verify the price resellers initially paid for tickets.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 3, 2026.

Tara Deschamps, The Canadian Press