Prime Minister pledges support for Toronto Santa Claus Parade as it faces deficit

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says his government will step in to help Toronto's Original Santa Claus Parade stay afloat as it faces financial challenges that have put its future in jeopardy.

"It's a great tradition, and we want to keep it going for years to come," Trudeau wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

CBC has reached out to Canadian Heritage for more information about the federal government's funding commitment to the parade.

Organizers of Toronto's Original Santa Claus Parade say they're facing a $250,000 deficit that could prevent them from staging the annual event next year due to an increase in costs and a decrease in corporate sponsors.

They've launched a Go Fund Me campaign that has raised close to $72,000 as of Sunday evening.

Clay Charters, president and CEO of the Original Santa Claus Parade, said the funding is needed to maintain operations at the non-profit, which will start working towards next year's event not long after the 2024 parade is over.

"So all of our fundraising right now and our efforts with corporate sponsorship and these conversations we've been having with the various levels of government are all about ensuring that the parade has a foundation from which we can operate into the new year and begin planning," he said.

Charters said parade organizers have been in touch with the federal government but couldn't get into detail about what kind of funding they expect to get from Ottawa yet.

He said it's encouraging to see support from different levels of government. The Ontario Government is also a sponsor of the parade.

"I think it what it shows is that various levels of government realize the importance of this event to literally hundreds of thousands of people kicking off the Christmas season and the holiday season here in Toronto and across the country."

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said she was happy to see that the federal government is willing to help the parade out.

"It's hard to raise money these days and it brings so much joy to children and families," she said.

"So I am very pleased that the federal government is willing to step up together with the city and other levels of government to say, we believe in bringing families together and we believe in that wide-eyed look of children saying, 'Ah Santa is arriving to town!'"

This year's parade is slated for Sunday, Nov. 24 at 12:30 p.m. with 26 floats and 18 marching bands. It will also be livestreamed on YouTube for the first time for those unable to make it in person.