TORONTO – A handful of families and sports lovers braved the bone-chilling cold Saturday morning to skate at Nathan Phillips Square and cheer on Canada’s Olympic athletes in a muted kickoff to the Team Canada FanFest.
The coast-to-coast event series seeks to stoke Olympic spirit at home as Team Canada athletes compete in the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics, according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Wind chill that dipped to -31 C Saturday morning may have kept most Torontonians at home, but one bundled up sports fan said she made sure to attend the festivities.
“The Olympic spirit is what I’m here to celebrate,” said Mayor Olivia Chow.
The Toronto mayor said she proclaimed Feb. 7 as Team Canada Day in honour of the nation’s Olympic athletes.
“We have 206 phenomenal athletes in the Olympics and the Olympics are a place where the best shine,” Chow said. “I just admire the skills (and) dedication that these athletes have. They train all their lives for those moments.”
-
![]()
Team USA Olympians, protesters speak out against ICE presence in Milan -
![]()
What to expect from the Milano-Cortina Olympics -
![]()
Canadian Olympic snowboarder, medal hopeful Mark McMorris suffers ‘heavy crash’ in training -
![]()
Mikaël Kingsbury, Marielle Thompson named Canada’s flag-bearers for Milano-Cortina Olympics -
![]()
Milan Olympics: U.S. ICE agents’ presence sparks uproar in Italy -
![]()
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir look ahead to Milano Cortina 2026 -
![]()
NHL worried about Milan’s unfinished Olympic hockey arena -
![]()
Okangan curler coaching Japanese team at Olympics qualifiers -
![]()
Saskatchewan’s Maia Schwinghammer claims first moguls title on World Cup circuit -
![]()
Calgarians reject another Olympic bid, so will Canada ever host the Games again?
Chow lauded the Olympic Games as a cause for global unity at a time when the world is “sometimes dark and divisive.”
Get breaking National news
“(The) Olympics bring us together and say that we can live in harmony,” the mayor said. “That theme of harmony is now more than ever very important.”
The Milan Games have arrived at a time when Canada, and many other countries, face threats to their national sovereignty from the United States.
Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand officially opened a new consulate in Greenland on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said he wants to annex the Danish territory. Trump has similarly attacked Canada, often calling it the 51st state.
Pascal Thibodeau, who attended the Team Canada FanFest, said it’s important for Canadians to show their national pride given Trump’s threats.
“Go Team Canada,” she asserted. “We are so proud of our Canadians and the importance of being Canadian in this worldwide climate.”
Thibodeau was at the fan festival to watch her daughter perform in a synchronized skating demonstration organized by Skate Canada.
The young skaters from the East York Skating Club performed an Olympic-inspired routine in glittering dresses, mimicking speedskating and bobsledding, among other winter sports, before racing off the ice and back into their puffer jackets.
Thibodeau said it was heartening to see people gather around the ice to watch the skaters perform.
“It goes to show how much people care for the sport and the feeling of camaraderie that they have toward it, and the willingness to come out … on such a cold day,” she said.
Torontonians looking to attend the second day of the Team Canada FanFest could get the chance to meet Olympic athletes, including figure skater Dylan Moscovitch, snowboarder Calynn Irwin and artistic gymnast Jessica Tudos, according to the Canadian Olympic Committee.
Those same athletes, along with Olympic figure skater Elvis Stojko, are slated to make an appearance Saturday afternoon at the FanFest.
The festival also featured a massive screen broadcasting events from the Milan Games, as well as booths from Canadian Olympic sponsors like Petro-Canada and Bell.
After wrapping up in Toronto on Sunday evening, the FanFest is set to travel to Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal.
The Milan Games run until Feb. 22.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2026.
Comments