What, when, and how much.
The Canadian National Exhibition — the Ex, to everyone who grew up here — opened Friday, August 21 and runs through Monday, September 7, 2026. That's 18 straight days at Exhibition Place on the waterfront, ending on Labour Day. It is open every one of those days, including right now.
On a regular day the gates are open 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., the grounds run to midnight, and the buildings close at 10 p.m. The adult midway runs 11 a.m. to midnight on weekdays and opens an hour earlier on weekends. The one day that breaks the pattern is Labour Day itself — more on that below.
The advance window closed on August 20, so regular pricing applies now. As of August 23, 2026, general admission is $26.55 for ages 14–64 and $22.12 for seniors 65+ and children 5–13. A Family Pass — two adults and two kids, or one adult and three kids — is $84.07. Children 4 and under are free with a paying adult. A Ride All Day Pass is $75.22 ($70.80 for kids 13 and under and seniors), and there's a rides-only pass with no admission for $55 onsite. HST is added at checkout and online orders carry a $2.99 per-ticket processing fee.
One thing worth saying plainly, because the summer's earlier coverage is now out of date: the free downloadable Kids' Pass for ages 5–13 had to be claimed by 11:59 p.m. on August 20 and cannot be picked up at the gate. If you missed it, the cheap route for kids is Toonie Monday — see below.
The moneyThe nights that cost $13.
Full price isn't the only price. The CNE runs a handful of dated promos, and with the Ex already open these are the ones still on the table:
- $13 Nights — Aug 24–27 and Aug 31 to Sep 3. Admission drops to $13 at the gates or online, and the online link only activates at 4:45 p.m. on each of those dates. This is the single best-value way in.
- Kid's Toonie Monday — Mon Aug 24 and Mon Aug 31. Children 13 and under get in for $2, at the gate only, accompanied by a paying adult.
- EXcelunch — $30, Monday to Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (not Labour Day Monday). Buy at the Saskatchewan, TTC/GO or Princes' Gates and you're refunded at that same gate if you leave by 2 p.m. — built for a lunch run at the Food Building.
- PRESTO Perks. From August 21 onward, GO and TTC riders save up to 31% on Ride All Day passes and up to 12% on regular admission through PRESTO Perks — worth checking before you tap in.
- Accessibility pricing. Visitors with a disability get 50% off general admission at the gates by self-declaration, and a support person is admitted free with an Access 2 Card. Both are in-person only.
From central North York, the Ex is closer than it feels — a subway ride and a single GO stop, and you're standing at the gates.— North York Guide
The North York angleGetting there without a car.
This is the part the official pages bury and the part that matters most from up here. Exhibition Place has its own GO station literally at the fairgrounds, so the smart play from North York is transit, not the parking lot. Two routes do the job:
Line 1 to Union, then GO one stop
Ride the subway south to Union Station, then take a Lakeshore West GO train one stop to Exhibition GO — which opens right onto the grounds at the GO/TTC Gate. The CNE calls GO "the easiest way to get to the CNE," and it's hard to argue: "Get off at the Exhibition GO Station and you are here." For the CNE run, GO has added extra Lakeshore West trips to and from Exhibition, so the one-stop hop is more frequent than usual.
Line 1 to Union, then the 509 streetcar
Prefer to stay on one TTC fare? From Union, take the 509 Harbourfront streetcar west to the Exhibition Loop, a short walk from the gates. It's a single tap from your North York station all the way in. If Line 1 is disrupted, the fallback from Line 2 is Dufferin Station and the 29 Dufferin bus south to the Dufferin Gate Loop.
Plan on roughly 45 to 60 minutes door to gate from central North York — Sheppard–Yonge or North York Centre down Line 1, then the short hop from Union. Treat that as an estimate and check the TTC and GO trip planners the morning you go; timing varies by station and time of day. As of August 23, 2026, the TTC had no Line 1 closure posted for the remaining CNE weekends, but the closure calendar changes week to week, so it's worth a look the night before.
GO also stacks a few perks worth knowing: children 12 and under ride GO free year-round, a $10 weekend day pass covers unlimited GO travel on Saturdays, Sundays and statutory holidays (handy for a family on Air Show weekend), weekday group passes start around $30 for two, and the One Fare program means transferring between the TTC and GO doesn't cost you a second fare. PRESTO Perks layers on discounted CNE tickets for riders. For cyclists, there's bike parking at the Dufferin and Princes' Gates, with the Martin Goodman Trail running right past.
On Labour Day it's the gate that closes early — and driving now costs more than admission.
Labour Day, September 7, runs on its own clock: the gates are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. only, online tickets stop selling at 2 p.m., and no re-entry stamps are given after 3 p.m. The common mistake is reading that as "everything shuts at 5" — it doesn't. Once you're inside, the buildings run to 7 p.m. and the grounds and midway to 9 p.m. The rule is simply: be through a gate before 5 p.m. And on parking — the CNE now lists 2026 rates at $40 to $50 a day across the grounds, more than a general admission ticket. Dufferin Street is also closed between Springhurst and British Columbia from 5 a.m. Saturdays to 11:59 p.m. Sundays and on Labour Day. Transit is cheaper, skips the closures and drops you at the gate.
What's on in 2026.
Two of the best things at the Ex cost nothing beyond admission. The 77th Canadian International Air Show — Canada's largest and longest-running — flies Saturday, September 5 through Monday, September 7, 12:00 to 3:40 p.m. each day over the waterfront. The 2026 roster includes the Canadian Forces Snowbirds, the RCAF's CF-18, a USAF F-16 demonstration, the Jack Aces formation team, an Edge 540 and the breast-cancer-awareness Pink Jet. It's free with your gate ticket, and it's the single biggest reason the final weekend is the busiest of the run.
Every Bell SOUNDSTAGE concert at the Bandshell is free with admission, too, and 2026 marks the Bandshell's 90th anniversary. Lupe Fiasco, LIGHTS and Shaggy have already played the opening stretch. Still to come: Virginia to Vegas (Aug 24), Glass Tiger (Aug 25), Bif Naked with Bran Van 3000 (Aug 26), The Trews (Aug 27), JoJo (Aug 29), Matthew Good and His Band (Aug 30), Charlotte Day Wilson (Sep 1), Finger Eleven (Sep 2), Silverstein (Sep 3), Raf-Saperra (Sep 4) and Tom Cochrane (Sep 5), with a Dr. Jay's Soca Night closing out Sep 6. New this year: an NXNE Stage spotlighting breakout artists, and a paid Front Row VIP add-on (from $40) if you want reserved front-of-stage viewing.
Elsewhere on the grounds, 2026 adds a new SuperDogs show, "Fairy Tails," plus the interactive CNE Farm and the returning HorseCapades program. The perennials are all back: the Food Building, the midway, the Gaming Garage, the ice-skating and acrobatic show, championship wrestling and the casino. The 2026 food list is out, and it is doing what the Food Building does — lobster on a stick, sushi served from push-pop tubes, a footlong butter chicken taquito, Jamaican-beef-patty mini pierogies, a Korean fried chicken taco in a Buldak-noodle shell, and a Sichuan-peppercorn soft serve that numbs your tongue on purpose.
The strategyPicking your day.
As general guidance rather than gospel: weekday mornings are the quietest, and the final Air Show weekend is the peak. If crowds stress you, aim for a Tuesday or Wednesday; if the Air Show is the whole point, embrace the crowds on September 5–7 and stake out the waterfront by late morning.
A few money-savers to bank, all still live:
- Go on a $13 Night — Aug 24–27 or Aug 31 to Sep 3, after 4:45 p.m. Half the price of a regular ticket, and the evening is when the midway lights are worth seeing anyway.
- Bring kids on a Toonie Monday — Aug 24 or Aug 31, $2 at the gate for 13 and under. Under-4s are always free with a paying adult.
- Stack the GO deals — under-12s ride free, the $10 weekend pass covers the whole family's travel, and PRESTO Perks trims up to 31% off a Ride All Day pass.
- Arrive at 10 a.m. and hit the Food Building and midway first; save the rides, concerts and lights for the evening.
Whichever day you choose, the through-line is the same one this whole page is built on: from North York, the Ex is a subway ride and a single GO stop. Skip the parking headache and let the train do the work.
Planning a bigger week of it? See what else is on in Local Events, or check This Weekend in North York for what's happening right now.