A person looks under the hood of a Chrysler vehicle on display at the Canadian International AutoShow in Toronto on February 13, 2025.Carlos Osorio/Reuters
It’s the most popular consumer show in Canada, and the Canadian International Auto Show (CIAS) will return to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, opening to the public on Feb. 13.
Organizers and automakers hope the 10-day show will not be affected by winter weather as it was last year. In 2025, a storm reduced attendance on opening weekend by about 50,000 people, and the show fell short of its record attendance of 370,000 people set in 2023 – the year the auto show reopened, after closing for two years during the pandemic.
Even so, show organizers say more than 323,000 people visited the show last year, which officially makes it the best-attended consumer show in Canada, according to the Canadian Association of Exposition Management. More than 40 brands will have vehicles on display, but some others will still be absent: Honda, Mazda, Volkswagen, Mitsubishi and Jaguar will not have displays, maintaining their absence of recent years, and now Rivian and VinFast will also not be at the show.
“Volkswagen Canada has taken the decision to support other initiatives, such as our sponsorship of the Canadian National Men’s and Women’s soccer teams,” says spokesman Thomas Tetzlaff. “We feel our involvement with partners such as these brings us closer to our fans, and Canadians in general. Sadly, like most companies, we cannot be in all places at once and our decision to activate where we have has necessitated our withdrawal from the show circuit.”
Volkswagen’s premium brand Audi will be at the show, however, as will BMW and Mercedes-Benz. All three of those German brands returned to the show last year. More than 50 vehicles from at least 16 brands will also be available to test drive: outdoors for gas-powered cars and SUVs and indoors for all-electric. Last year, more than 15,000 test drives were conducted, and this year, organizers hope to increase that.
Test drives “really took off during the pandemic, I guess,” says Jason Campbell, the show’s general manager. “What makes our test drives unique is that people can actually drive the car themselves, whereas at other major shows, they can’t drive the car themselves – they’re taken as a passenger by a representative from the manufacturer.
“We’re investing more in the track itself from a safety perspective and hiring second drivers to go with each vehicle, and manufacturers love the opportunity. We know from our consumers that they really appreciate the chance to get behind the wheel and test some of this stuff.”
There will be many other exhibits aside from the new cars that most people buy. McLaren and Pagani will have their own display in the main building on Front Street, separate from the Ferraris, Bugattis, Lamborghinis and other exotica. The McLarens will include the W1, the P1 and the F1, which is probably the most expensive car at the show, insured for $30-million to ship it from Chicago.
There’ll be a “robust” display of military vehicles from the Canadian armed forces, says Campbell, and vintage cars from the Cobble Beach Concours d’Elegance, and classic cars from the 1980s and ’90s from the Oblivion car meet. There’ll be a classic Cadillac made from 418,000 Lego bricks and a Hot Wheels Mercedes-Benz CLA. There’ll even be a collection of micro-cars as well as the Koenigsegg CCR and Jesko, the Bugatti Mistral, the Lamborghini Temerario and Aston Martin Valhalla that are part of the separate displays of Autostrada magazine and Grand Touring Automobiles.
Other international auto shows have been challenged since before the pandemic to maintain attendance, blaming it on competition from online marketing as well as a lack of commitment from manufacturers, but the Toronto auto show doesn’t seem so affected. It offers discounts for admission to visitors prepared to attend during less-busy “shoulder” periods, such as evenings and weekdays. Typically, the show attracts about 50,000 visitors a day on weekends, and half that number on weekdays. This year, the show will remain open an additional hour, until 10 p.m., to cater better to visitors.
The Greater Toronto Area “is still the biggest market for selling cars, not just in Canada, but in North America,” says Campbell. “We represent 1,100 new car dealers, but I do think that the focus we have on consumer activations and being a consumer show driven by the desires of our consumers, is always front and centre of our minds.”
For more information about the Canadian International Auto Show, go to AutoShow.ca