Photo: Vancouver Pride by Destination Vancouver at VanPrideFest

Pride organizations across Canada operate in diverse settings, from small grassroots gatherings and Indigenous-led celebrations to large metropolitan festivals that attract thousands of participants.

Each organization faces unique challenges in providing safe, accessible, and welcoming environments for 2SLGBTQ+ communities. These challenges may include limited funding, volunteer capacity, public safety concerns, changing community needs, and varying relationships with police, emergency services, municipalities, and other safety partners.

York Pride is undertaking a national assessment to better understand how Pride organizations approach emergency preparedness, public safety, risk management, and incident response.

The information collected will help inform the development of a scalable Emergency Management Plan (EMP) and Incident Management System (IMS) toolkit, including practical templates, training resources, and alternative safety models that organizations can adapt to their individual circumstances.

There is no single correct approach to Pride safety.

We recognize that some organizations maintain community-led or independent safety models without police engagement, and others have established relationships with police and emergency services. Our goal is to learn from these different approaches without judgment.

Participation is voluntary. Organizations may skip questions they are uncomfortable answering. We do not request confidential operational details, security vulnerabilities, or personally identifying information about incident victims.

Survey findings will be used to identify sector-wide trends, resource gaps, promising practices, and opportunities for collaboration. Individual organizational responses will not be publicly attributed without permission.

Estimated completion time: 15–20 minutes.

Thank you for helping strengthen the safety, accessibility, and long-term sustainability of Pride events across Canada.