2017 Toronto Boat Show To Open Two Weeks Later

Canadian Boat Shows Inc., producers of the Toronto International Boat Show and the Vancouver International Boat Show, have announced new event dates for 2017 which will see Canada’s two largest boat shows overlap for the first time.

The 2017 Toronto International Boat Show – the largest indoor boat show in North America – will run from January 20 to 29, two weeks later in the month than it has traditionally been held. Its opening weekend will now overlap with the five-day Vancouver International Boat Show (VIBS), which is scheduled to run from January 18 to 22 inclusive at BC Place and Granville Island.

Out of 550 exhibitors in Toronto and 250 in Vancouver, there are 33 which presently exhibit at both events. “We realize that staffing overlapping shows will require modifications in personnel plans,” notes an announcement issued to Toronto show exhibitors. “This also impacts Canadian Boat Shows, whose staff produces both shows. We will split personnel to effectively manage both events.”

Canadian Boat Shows has long wanted to move the Toronto show later into January in order to better distance the event from the holiday season and encourage higher attendance. The 2017 season marks the first time that more favorable dates at the Enercare Centre host venue have come available.

The Vancouver show, formerly held in early February, moved to its current late-January timeslot in 2014 in response to concerns about the increased costs and hindrance to attendance associated with holding the event on BC’s Family Day long weekend.