Cathy Loblaw, appointed Harbourfront Centre CEO last June, is a woman of action, bringing back buskers and the skating rink, and launching a Farmer’s Market and a full summer schedule of events, despite having had to cut jobs to balance the budget.聽
In under a year, she has brought more change to the sprawling waterfront attraction than it鈥檚 seen in decades: parting ways with The Power Plant art gallery and the 海角社区官网International Festival of Authors, and ending Harbourfront鈥檚 lease with the Fleck Dance Theatre, to shore up Harbourfront鈥檚 precarious finances.
She brought back buskers, for the first time since COVID shut down performances in 2020.
Working with Deputy Mayor Ausma Malik (Ward 10 Spadina鈥擣ort York), Loblaw persuaded the city to help bring back the skating rink, which drew more than 2,000 people on Saturday DJ nights this winter. She is in talks to get the Amsterdam Bridge, dangling broken and boarded up over a picturesque marina聽鈥 something she calls 鈥渦nacceptable”聽鈥 restored to its former glory as one of the most romantic places to view the CN Tower.
鈥淚f we don鈥檛 figure out how to continue to be relevant and stabilized and strengthened, this could become three more condo buildings, and we can鈥檛 let that happen,鈥 said Loblaw, referring to the 10-acre campus set aside, decades ago, in a prescient attempt to preserve a portion of Toronto鈥檚 waterfront for the public as private development began taking off in the district.
Loblaw, 62, is a seasoned executive with long experience working with the private and public sectors. For 15 years she ran Concerned Children鈥檚 Advertisers, a consortium of 27 companies, including Kraft, Kellogg鈥檚 and McDonald鈥檚, founded to ensure ethical advertising to children.
She was CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities Canada for 13 years, driving the organization鈥檚 mission to provide places where families can live when their children are undergoing medical care away from home.
鈥淭he rigour, fiscal mindset, accountability, and pace of the private sector has very much informed my work at Harbourfront Centre,鈥 said Loblaw.
鈥淚t truly is as simple and complex as no money, no mission.鈥
Richard Ellis, who hired Loblaw to work at Ronald McDonald House Charities, where she reported to him and the board of directors, says Loblaw is a change agent.聽
“She has an amazing ability to inspire teams to reach new heights,” said Ellis. “She is a hands-on, hard-working leader who accomplishes more in one day than most people would do in a month.”
The waterfront is under renewed development, with supertall towers attracting thousands of new residents. Queens Quay East has recently been filled in by buildings that have blocked lake views from the street, making the airy public squares and cultural amenities that are part of Harbourfront on Queens Quay West an even more precious respite from the built-up city, and an opportunity for visitors to engage with a long list of programming, most of it free.
Harbourfront Centre, founded with a grand plan to provide arts, culture and recreational programming, focused on Canadian talent, has never been funded as originally promised. An $80-million endowment never came through and it鈥檚 been operating ever since on a patchwork of funding from three levels of government, and income from admission to some events, summer camps and programs, marinas and parking lots.
鈥淲e鈥檙e hitting the consequences of that funding decision,鈥 said Loblaw.
The facility needs upwards of $100 million for upgrades and repairs, which means simply balancing the budget won’t cut it. Loblaw is under pressure to come up with significant new funding.
Last year, the Department of Canadian Heritage, which provides Harbourfront Centre with its single largest source of funding, issued a report concluding that the centre had to diversify its revenue sources.
Taking that to heart, Loblaw made financially stabilizing Harbourfront Centre a priority. Cancelling the Fleck Dance Theatre lease will save more than $400,000 a year.
Even before COVID, it was operating at 40 per cent capacity, booking only 90 days out of a possible 292, Loblaw said.聽
鈥淚 will say to the credit of the dance community they didn鈥檛 want to see it happen, but were not surprised. They were kind.”
Dance performances will take place at other Harbourfront stages, Loblaw said.
Ending financial support of The Power Plant and the 海角社区官网International Festival of Authors will save $576,000 a year. The Power Plant will continue to operate with rent-free support and maintenance, and TIFA continues to operate out of Harbourfront鈥檚 main building, rent-free.
TIFA director Roland Gulliver said the flagship fall festival will be scaled back to five days from 11 this year, something the organization was contemplating before the funding changes. TIFA has added a new event, TIFA Romance, focused on love stories and funded by Rakuten kobo, scheduled for November.
The annual fall festival, which attracted about 20,000 visitors last year, will take place at U of T’s Victoria University, instead of at Harbourfront.
鈥淧eople will find it better because we鈥檙e in the heart of the city,鈥 said Gulliver.
Carolyn Vesely, executive director of The Power Plant, is photographed at the art gallery. The Power Plant is parting ways with Harbourfront Centre after decades of partnership.
Giovanni Capriotti for the 海角社区官网StarFor The Power Plant, a heritage building converted to an art gallery, which had at times 聽that Harbourfront Centre required in exchange for its financial and administrative support, the changes mean it will reduce the number of shows it produces each season as it works to replace funding, according to executive director Carolyn Vesely.
But the change will mean the gallery can be more nimble.
鈥淲e were already working together towards cleaning up quite a Byzantine governance structure,鈥 said Vesely, of the gallery鈥檚 relationship with Harbourfront Centre.
The break will mean The Power Plant will incur an additional $150,000 in costs related to IT, software, phones and banking.
鈥淲e鈥檒l have to do more fundraising, and we鈥檙e primed to do that,” said Vesely.聽
Loblaw has also further reduced staffing at Harbourfront Centre, a process that began before her tenure. At its peak in August 2023, it employed 194 full-time and part-time staff. As of May 1, 2025, the figure is down to 105 full-time and part-time staff, augmented by seasonal staffing.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a heavy nine months,鈥 said Loblaw.
While Loblaw believes Harbourfront鈥檚 finances have stabilized, finding new sources of funding, from individual to corporate donors, is less straightforward in the current environment.
And when it comes to building audiences, people are consuming arts and culture differently these days, Loblaw and others agree. Post-COVID, it takes more to woo people from the comfort of their home and electronic devices.
To encourage more visitors, Harbourfront Centre has launched a busy summer schedule that includes, for the first time, a on Saturdays; concerts in partnership with Live Nation; and Luminato will take over centre with events June 4-22, including a monumental .
The Fog Community Square, where mist is shot into the air, providing a playful space for visitors who want to cool off, will run daily from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. from now until October, instead of periodically, as it did last summer.
Loblaw, a former resident of the waterfront, is determined to preserve the facility for future generations.
鈥淭his needs to be here in 50 years.鈥
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