Straight Street produces conference, convention and AGM AV across Toronto and the Greater Toronto Area.
You don’t need an AV company inside the city, you need one that arrives ready for it. We produce across the GTA regularly, plan load-ins around downtown dock schedules and building rules, and set up and rehearse before your delegates arrive. From the Metro Toronto Convention Centre and Enercare Centre to the Royal York, the Sheraton Centre, The International Centre and the Toronto Congress Centre, every event comes with one all-in quote covering equipment, labour and transportation, and a senior AV producer who owns it from load-in to the last session.
Backed by our Comfort Warranty — if something isn’t right, we do everything within our power to make it right.
What a Conference Needs
- Every word heard. Speech-first sound for keynotes, panels and the Q&A, clear to the back of a general session and in every breakout room.
- Slides and video that just work. Presentation switching, playback, and screens sized so every seat sees, with smooth handovers between speakers.
- General sessions and breakouts, coordinated. One team across the main stage and the concurrent rooms, tied together by a written run-of-show.
- The remote and hybrid audience. Livestream and webcast for members and delegates who can’t attend in person, treated as a real audience.
- No surprises. Rehearsed before doors, backups for what can fail, and a direct line to your lead staff all day.
A few conferences and corporate events we’ve produced
- MCI Group Canada — a client’s annual conference (see the review below).
- Experior Financial — the XFactor Conference at The International Centre.
- University of Guelph-Humber — Convocation at the Pearson Convention Centre, Brampton.
- IBAO (Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario) — the annual convention and Awards of Excellence.
- Conference and corporate events for clients including Google and Clio.
Venues We Know
We’ve produced events in the region’s best-known conference venues. What matters on the day is knowing how each building actually works — what the venue mandates, how the load-in runs, and what the room does to sound and sightlines.
- Metro Toronto Convention Centre. Power and rigging are through the building’s in-house supplier and are mandatory. Load-in arrangements vary by room, from dock-levelled bays to forklift-assisted drive-ins at ground level, so we plan the approach room by room.
- Enercare Centre, Exhibition Place. A union house. Setup and teardown are done by IATSE labour, and rigging is carried out by IATSE crews with every plan going through the venue’s approval process, which we file ahead of time. Power is supplied by the building. Load-in and load-out are dock level, with the push to the show floor varying by space, and we hold rigging plans for the entire complex. Because the union supplies the hands rather than the show crew, the lead technician and operator positions are filled by Straight Street people. The building’s labour agreement carries costs a smaller venue doesn’t, and those are in your quote from the start rather than turning up after the show.
- Fairmont Royal York. We work mostly in the Canadian Room, the Concert Hall and the Imperial Room. The hotel mandates power, and rigging where it’s available in the Canadian Room; the rest of the production is open, and we’ll tell you plainly which charges are the building’s and which are ours. The main dock is busy and takes one 26-foot truck at a time. The secondary entrance is street level through small elevators and needs extra crew and extra time, which we schedule for rather than discover on the day.
- Sheraton Centre Toronto. Several event spaces, with power and rigging through the in-house supplier and mandatory. The dock holds two trucks at 26 feet each, and most rooms are a long push from there, so the load is scheduled around that distance.
- The International Centre. By some distance the easiest of the major GTA venues to work in. Power is supplied by the venue. Rigging plans need approval, but the work is done by our own crew. Load-in and load-out are mostly dock-level, semi-enclosed, and a short distance from the event spaces. Parking is ample for you, your delegates and the crew, with hotels and restaurants close by.
- Toronto Congress Centre. Power and rigging are through the in-house supplier and are mandatory. Multiple spaces and layouts are possible. The ceiling is low relative to the floor area, which affects screen size and sightlines, so the design is built to the room rather than dropped into it. Loading docks are enclosed, weather-covered and truck height, with no restriction on vehicle size.
Other GTA conference and event venues we’ve worked include the Westin Harbour Castle, the Omni King Edward Hotel, Arcadian Court, The Carlu, Hotel X Toronto, the Palais Royale Ballroom, the Boulevard Club, Yorkville Village, the Royal Ontario Museum, Branksome Hall, the Mississauga Convention Centre, the Red Rose Convention Centre, the Paramount Fine Foods Centre in Mississauga, Château Le Parc in Vaughan, the Sheraton Parkway Toronto in Richmond Hill, Hilton Markham, Hilton Mississauga, the York Club, the Four Seasons Hotel Toronto, the Windsor Arms Hotel, the Chelsea Hotel, the Toronto Marriott Airport and the Hilton Toronto Airport.
Campus, stadium and outdoor sites in the GTA: York University, Sobeys Stadium, the Mattamy Athletic Centre and Downsview Park.
We work Toronto’s performance venues as well: Roy Thomson Hall, Massey Hall, Koerner Hall, the Elgin and Winter Garden Theatre Centre, the Four Seasons Centre for the Performing Arts, Meridian Hall, the RBC Amphitheatre, the Phoenix Concert Theatre, the Horseshoe Tavern and the El Mocambo.
Quick facts
What we do here | Conference, convention and AGM AV across Toronto and the GTA: sound, screens and projection, staging, lighting, and livestream. |
Typical events | Conferences and conventions, AGMs, corporate meetings, product launches, and awards nights. |
Venues we’ve worked | Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Enercare Centre, Fairmont Royal York, Sheraton Centre Toronto, The International Centre, Toronto Congress Centre. |
Based in | Cambridge, Ontario. Producing across the GTA regularly since 1997. |
Recognition | Consumer Choice Award 2016–2019, 2026 and 2027. BBB A+. Member of CAVPA. |
Pricing | One all-in quote covering equipment, labour, and transportation. No hidden fees. |
Client Proof
We recently used Straight Street for a client’s annual conference. The client was extremely anxious and hesitant due to a bad experience the previous year with another company. Straight Street ROCKED IT OUT!!! Not only were they professional and accommodating (especially with last minute requests) but they also went above and beyond to assist our client with presentation changes and music requests. They did such a great job that the client immediately requested that they be a part of next year’s team again.
Pierre Valcarcel, Sr. Account Manager, MCI Group Canada · Google review
4.9 / 5
Across 30 Google Reviews
A+
BBB Accredited
Member
6x Consumer Choice Award Winner,
Kitchener-Waterloo
most recently 2027
Backed by the Comfort Warranty: one all-in quote with no hidden fees, constant communication, a direct line to your lead event staff on show day, and support after the event. If something isn’t right, we do everything within our power to make it right.
Straight Answers
“You’re based in Cambridge — can you really cover a downtown Toronto venue?”
Yes, regularly. We plan load-ins around downtown dock rules and schedules and arrive early enough to rehearse. The venues listed above are rooms we’ve worked.
“The venue has an in-house AV company — it’s ‘exclusive.’”
In most Canadian venues you can still bring your own AV partner, and it’s worth comparing. Our quote is all-in, and we help remove the hotel’s markup on equipment — standard venue charges like rigging and power may still apply, and we’ll tell you which is which.
“Our presenters change slides and requests at the last minute.”
We expect that, and we’re built for it. In one agency’s words, we went above and beyond to assist with presentation changes and music requests, last-minute and all, and were rebooked the next year for it. Changes are the job, not a crisis.
For Events That Need To Look Right, Sound Clear, and Run With Confidence
Tell us about your event: the venue, the audience, the program, and the budget. We’ll recommend the right solution for it, not the most complex one.
No obligation. Prefer to talk it through?
Call (519) 893-3668.
Your Event Goals. Our Expertise. That’s Straight Street.