A Toronto not-for-profit that received more than $6.5 million from Ontario’s Skills Development Fund (SDF) has been training workers inside an event complex run by a longtime Ford Nation associate—blurring lines between public funding, public venues, and private nightlife ventures.
The Social Equality and Inclusion Centre (SEI) says it partners with two companies owned by businessman Zlatko Starkovski—the Toronto Event Centre and Grand Bizarre—operating in the Horticulture Building at Exhibition Place, where Starkovski holds a long-standing exclusive lease. SEI executive director Jenny Andonov says the venue supplies space, equipment, and industry trainers so participants can learn in “real working conditions.” Starkovski confirms the relationship, calling SEI’s focus on marginalized job-seekers “an amazing initiative.”
SEI’s ties to Starkovski run deep. Andonov previously acted as his spokesperson, and public records show she incorporated the entity that received provincial funds (12490625 Canada Institute) on the same day in November 2021 that Starkovski incorporated a separate not-for-profit (12490587 Canada Centre. Both SEI and Starkovski also shared lobbying firm Rubicon Strategy; Rubicon helped SEI file its first SDF application, and later registered to lobby for Starkovski’s Grand Bizarre Inc. Sunshine List disclosures show Andonov was paid roughly $340,000 from 2022–2024.
The Exhibition Place site—once Muzik, later Toronto Event Centre and Grand Bizarre—has a storied history: it hosted a 2015 OVO Fest after-party where two people were killed, pivoted to supper-club, then a members-only concept during the pandemic. A new venture, FYE Ultraclub, a burlesque-themed venue “for those where discretion is a must,” is slated to launch this month.
Supporters say the training works. Exhibition Place CEO Don Boyle says hundreds of participants “from very difficult backgrounds” have gained entry-level jobs through the program. Provincial figures credit SEI with training 720 people over three years, including 424 who became employed. Still, SEI’s public footprint is thin: social accounts are sparsely updated, recruitment methods are unclear, and its website—light on program details—has hosted a portal to a Chinese online gambling site for the past two years.
The SDF, a signature program of Premier Doug Ford’s government, has grown to a $2.5-billion pot spanning training and capital projects. Grants typically range from hundreds of thousands to several million dollars; the largest topped $26 million for a LiUNA training centre in Vaughan. Starkovski’s Grand Bizarre received separate tourism grants of $350,000 in 2021–22 and $335,000 in 2022–23. The province has not yet released a full breakdown of last year’s SDF training grants. Ontario’s auditor general is auditing the Labour Ministry’s processes for the program’s training stream.
Labour Minister David Piccini’s office defends the fund as “rapid, practical training,” citing successes for workers in hospitality, health care, and construction. Ford calls SDF “the best investment we’ve ever done,” claiming more than 700,000 people have been trained. Critics counter that politically connected applicants—including hospitality groups—have benefited from late or low-scoring bids that were later green-lit, while SEI’s governance, transparency, and reliance on a private nightlife venue raise accountability questions.
Meanwhile, training continues at Exhibition Place, where public dollars, public space, and private entertainment intersect—and where the promised pathway from marginalized job-seeker to steady work will be weighed against the program’s opaque paperwork and political proximity.