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How early should I get to Scotiabank Arena for a concert?

Enter the showtime, say how you’re getting there, and see when to leave and when to start getting ready.

Try it with your own show

  1. Tap the showtime and set it to the one on your ticket.
  2. Tap any duration and change it to how long that step really takes you.
  3. Every start time shifts so you can see when to leave and when to start getting ready.
Showtime
15 min Final pack & check 5:37 PM
10 min Walk to the station 5:52 PM
25 min TTC or GO to Union Station 6:02 PM
5 min Walk from Union through Maple Leaf Square 6:27 PM
10 min Metal detection at the gate 6:32 PM
8 min Escalators up to your level 6:42 PM
10 min In your seat for the opener 6:50 PM
Showtime 7:00 PM

Show night at Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Ontario. Not sure which time on the ticket matters? The concert night plan covers doors, opener and headliner at any venue.

Want this on your phone? Ready Time sends an alert when it’s time to start each step.

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Ready Time

You know what you need to do. Ready Time helps you know when to start.

Travel time to Scotiabank Arena

The 25-minute ride is a typical run from Toronto on an ordinary evening (the optimistic number). In the app, set Scotiabank Arena as the destination and Apple Maps fills in the time from where you’re leaving.

Home Scotiabank
🚆 25 min
🚆 Transit 🚗 Drive 🚶 Walk
25 min TTC or GO to Union Station

Then add for show night: the same train carrying everyone else with a ticket (real journey to Scotiabank Arena). Change the row and every step before it moves.

Scotiabank Arena seen from Bay Street, in Toronto.
Photo by Dillan Payne, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for this page.

What the time on the ticket means

The time on the ticket is when the first act is due on. Seating here is reserved, so nobody is racing for a spot; the deadline really is the show. Aim to be in your seat ten minutes before the first act, and budget the walk to your row: it is the part people misjudge, not the drive.

Some tours sell a general-admission floor here, and that ticket is a different evening: the arena sends every general-admission ticket through the Premium Entrance on Bay Street, and the queue for a place at the rail forms there long before the doors do. The plan here is for a numbered seat.

Here is the evening drawn to scale. A maps app can number the ride in. The rest is the queue at the door, the screening, and the walk to your row.

Front door to your seat: 1hr 23min

  • Before you leave 15 min
  • Getting there 40 min
  • Gate, stairs and seat 28 min

Getting to Scotiabank Arena

The arena is joined to Union Station, which is what makes the train the easy answer on a show night. Union is where the TTC subway, GO Transit’s trains and buses and the UP Express from the airport all meet, and the arena is connected to the PATH walkway, so the walk from the platforms to the doors runs indoors. Driving means the Gardiner and Lake Shore at the hour the rest of downtown is leaving.

Scotiabank Arena was previously called Air Canada Centre, so older directions, tickets and map pins may still use that name.

The Front Street facade of Union Station in Toronto, a covered walk from Scotiabank Arena.
Photo by Dillan Payne, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for this page.

Parking, and which gate you walk to

The arena sits at the northwest corner of Lake Shore Boulevard West and Bay Street, joined to Union Station, and most people arrive without a car. If you do drive, the arena’s own garage charges a flat fifty dollars, takes no cash, has a two-metre height limit that rules out a roof box, and opens an hour before the event; its four accessible spaces are reserved by phone on a weekday. The nearest public garage is the one under 15 York Street, open around the clock. Booking either ahead through SpotHero costs less than the drive-up rate.

Your ticket names a preferred gate, and the arena says to use whichever gate has the shortest line instead if yours is backed up. Its own suggestion for shorter lines is gates 3, 4 or 5B. A general-admission floor ticket has no choice to make: it enters through the Premium Entrance on Bay Street.

The gate, the bag, and the stairs

Screening is metal detection for everyone, and the arena asks you to open a large jacket and take off non-religious headwear on the way through. Bags are close to banned: only a small purse, clutch or fanny pack smaller than 16.5 by 11.5 centimetres, which the arena gives as 6.5 by 4.5 inches, and it says outright that it would rather you brought no bag at all.

A bag that fails can be checked for a fee in the galleria across from Gate 1, first come, first served, with limited space. A bag you need for medical reasons is allowed subject to x-ray, and the x-ray is at gates 1, 3 and 5. No outside food or drink apart from what a food allergy or medical condition requires, and no umbrella bigger than 12 inches. There is no re-entry once you have left.

Doors, lots and bag rules change; the official site is the live source.

Save this Scotiabank Arena plan in Ready Time and it tells you when to leave and when to be in your seat.

Ready Time app icon

Ready Time

You know what you need to do. Ready Time helps you know when to start.

Common questions

How early should I get to Scotiabank Arena?

The plan's floor is the gate 28 minutes before the show: screening, the walk to your section, and a few minutes in the seat. Your seat is reserved, so nothing is lost by not being there the moment the gates open. The arena’s own advice right now is to come earlier than that. Work on the 100 Level concourse is slowing the way in, and it says to plan ahead and expect delays. The part to budget for is the queue at the gate.

What time should I leave for a 7:00 PM show at Scotiabank Arena?

About 5:52 PM from Toronto coming in on public transport, travelling light. Every row above is editable; the first travel row is your leave-by time.

How does parking work at Scotiabank Arena?

There is one small venue garage and it is not the plan for most people. It charges a flat fifty dollars, is cashless, has a two-metre height limit and opens an hour before the event. The nearest public garage is under 15 York Street, open around the clock. Booking either ahead through SpotHero is cheaper than driving up. The official Scotiabank Arena site is where the current arrangements are posted.

Can I take a bus or train to Scotiabank Arena?

Yes, and it is the reason to leave the car at home. The arena is joined to Union Station: the Yonge-University subway line stops there, GO Transit trains and buses come in from the suburbs, the UP Express runs in from the airport, and the arena is connected to the PATH walkway so the walk to the doors stays indoors.

What bag can I bring into Scotiabank Arena?

Only a small purse, clutch or fanny pack smaller than 16.5 by 11.5 centimetres, which the arena gives as 6.5 by 4.5 inches. Anything bigger can be checked for a fee in the galleria across from Gate 1, with limited space and no guarantee. A bag needed for medical reasons goes through x-ray at gates 1, 3 or 5. The arena says plainly that it would prefer you brought no bag at all. No outside food or drink, and no re-entry once you are in.

Going to a game instead? The stadium pages. Flying in? The airport pages.

Share one leave time with everyone on the trip

Whoever is driving sees the same 5:52 PM leave-by that you do, not just the showtime on the ticket.

They tap once, and every step gets its own alert on their phone.

👥 Shared by Rosa
🎧 Show at Scotiabank Arena
15 min Final pack & check 5:37 PM
10 min Walk to the station 5:52 PM
25 min TTC or GO to Union Station 6:02 PM
Showtime 7:00 PM
🎧 Show at Scotiabank Arena
15 min Final pack & check 5:37 PM
10 min Walk to the station 5:52 PM
25 min TTC or GO to Union Station 6:02 PM

Build it once, then use it every show

Ready Time keeps the plan and subtracts again when the show time changes. Put in the next ticket and the same steps land on new times, with an alert on each one.

Ready Time 5:37 PM
Final pack & check. Showtime in 1h 23m
Ready Time 6:27 PM
Walk from Union through Maple Leaf Square. Showtime in 33m
Ready Time 6:50 PM
In your seat for the opener. Showtime in 10m

Alerts when it's time to start

Get a nudge at the right moment, while there's still time to act.

Each step gets its own alert, so you know what's next and how long you have.

The countdown to showtime, on your Lock Screen

Start the plan in the app, and the Lock Screen and Dynamic Island show the time left, with a bar that fills as each step passes.

Glance at it on the walk in without opening the app.

Live Activities are part of Premium, a one-time unlock.

★★★★★
“I tend to be overly optimistic when estimating how long things take, and this app has really helped me get it right.”
App Store review
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Ready Time

You know what you need to do. Ready Time helps you know when to start.

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