Toronto 
The City of Pickering has revoked the permit for the “Haunting of Hexwood” Halloween attraction at The WFW Backlot Film Studio, renowned for hosting productions like “Reacher” and “The Umbrella Academy.”
WFW Backlot Film Studio
Per the statement by the city, the 23-acre studio, Canada’s largest, replicates a modern-day town but is deemed unsuitable for events attracting mass gatherings.
The City says they had conveyed its concerns since the proposal in August, emphasizing that film sets are designed for visual aesthetics and don’t conform to the Ontario Building Code. The structures lack the necessary infrastructure, such as crowd control and fire safety measures, to ensure visitor safety. Despite these concerns, organizers E11venth Hour Productions proceeded to market and sell tickets without securing official approvals. Continuous discussions did not result in a viable plan that satisfied health, safety, and fire regulations.
Consequently, the City has instructed the cancellation of the event, prohibiting public access to the site, and directing attendees to contact E11venth Hour Productions for refunds. The move underlines the importance of ensuring stringent safety standards in public gatherings, particularly in unconventional venues.
The event was set to commence from October 6, 2023.
Official Statement on Cancellation of Haunting of Hexwood Event follows:
“Today, the City of Pickering has directed E11venth Hour Productions, the organizers of Haunting of Hexwood, to cancel their Halloween-themed event and attraction that was being planned for the William F. White filming backlot, due to significant health and safety concerns.”
The City was approached with this proposed event back in August, and from the outset, we expressed our concerns to the organizers that a film set would not be a suitable venue capable of safely accommodating the influx of thousands of daily visitors over a three-week period.”
Film sets, such as the one on Pickering’s backlot, leased to William F. White, are primarily designed for film and TV production, emphasizing visual aesthetics for the camera. These structures are unsuitable for real-world events, as they are artificial and have a comparatively limited life span, and should not be conflated with permanent, publicly-accessible buildings.”
Namely, film sets like this do not conform to the stringent standards of the Ontario Building Code and lack the necessary infrastructure to ensure the safety of a large number of visitors. This includes the absence of appropriate facilities for crowd control, fire safety measures, and accessible exits for swift evacuation in case of emergencies.”
Despite these significant concerns, we made a sincere and concerted effort to find a workable solution, committing substantial staff resources to this endeavour.”
Unfortunately, while these discussions and reviews were taking place, the event organizers began marketing and selling advance tickets for this Halloween experience without securing official approvals.”
Regrettably, despite our continuous engagement, the event organizers could not develop a feasible plan that would meet the exacting requirements of the Ontario Building Code, as well as our municipal health and safety standards, and fire regulations, all of which are essential to safeguarding event attendees. Consequently, we have instructed the organizers to initiate the necessary cancellation notices and provide refunds for all ticket sales.”
We advise that no members of the general public will be permitted access to the filming backlot site, and all those who had purchased advance tickets to contact E11venth Hour Productions.”
Update – Oct 9: As per the social media post by Haunting of Hexwood organisers, the event is approved from October 13th as a limited capacity event.
Ha. Typical Pickering that doesn’t want to run anything unless they’re getting a piece out of it. Horrible municipality
I highly doubt there would be an emergency issue that would get out of hand. There has got to be a plan that can be made for the city to feel comfortable with so that this event can continue.
Plenty of people are extremely excited for this new experience for Halloween and a resolve should be made to accommodate pickerings concerns.
Don’t ruin this for the public and make a plan to bring it together.
Thanks a lot Pickering, I was looking forward to this! =/
Note that the company is actually Ell’Events. E11venth is not a registered company and is a name used only on some materials.