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Toronto’s Collision conference cancelled due to coronavirus

The Collision tech conference, which was set to be held in Toronto in June at the Exhibition Grounds, has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The event will instead be broadcast online under the name Collision From Home. All tickets will be transferred to Collision 2021.

“For now, given the evolving nature of COVID-19, we think gathering tens of thousands of people from almost every country in the world in one place this June would be irresponsible,” said Collision founder Paddy Cosgrave in a statement. “Toronto has not suffered a significant COVID-19 outbreak, and at Collision we want to ensure that remains the case.”

Attendees can also request full refunds from the date of the announcement until 30 days after Collision from Home. That means you can catch the conference and, if it’s not up to your personal snuff, get your money back.

“Crises like COVID-19 demand responsibility and creativity,” Cosgrave added. “We want to do our part and we hope others will too.”

Over 30,000 people from 125 countries were expected to attend Collision, Canada’s largest tech conference. Last year’s event drew more than 25,000 attendees, and featured hundreds of notable speakers, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

This isn’t the first tech event to face cancellation due to the virus. Google, Facebook and Shopify having all axed major conferences in recent weeks.

“I am disappointed that Collision has had to make what I know is a tremendously difficult decision – as many other conferences around the world have had to do as COVID-19 has spread and many businesses limit global travel,” said mayor John Tory in a statement. “Collision is North America’s fastest growing tech conference and we are proud that it calls Toronto home. I have spoken personally with Collision founder and CEO Paddy Cosgrave and told him we are committed to working with Collision to help host Collision from Home.”

Earlier in the day public health officials confirmed four new positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in Ontario to 26. Four of those cases have been resolved.

The latest cases are a married Mississauga couple in their 60s who were aboard the Grand Princess cruise ship and are now in self-isolation a man in his 50s who recently travelled to Toronto from Iran and a man in his 40s who recently travelled to Las Vegas. All four are in self-isolation in their homes after being assessed at hospitals.

@_sadafahsan

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