Toronto Waterfront Marathon charity spots

The 2027 Toronto Waterfront Marathon is on Sunday 17 October 2027 at 8:00am, and the half marathon starts at the same time. The 5K is the day before, on Saturday 16 October. The race is the finale of the Canada Running Series and has been Athletics Canada's national marathon championship since 2017.

Toronto works differently from the big European races. There is no ballot. Registration for 2027 is already open on Race Roster, and the in-person marathon costs 190 Canadian dollars plus a 33.25 dollar processing fee, with HST on top. So you do not need a charity place to get in. You just register.

Charity running here means the TCS Charity Challenge, a fundraising programme for official charity partners. You choose a charity, join its team when you register, and get a personal fundraising page to share. Donations and tax receipts are handled on Race Roster. The programme is big: in 2025 participants raised over 1.7 million dollars for more than 165 official charities, and since 2003 it has raised over 57 million dollars. Most of the partners are local Toronto charities, from animal rescues to food programmes and small medical charities.

The race does not set a fundraising minimum for charity runners, and the official charity page lists none. If your charity has its own target or incentives, it will tell you, and the organisers suggest contacting the charity before you sign up. For 2026, runners who raised 1,500 dollars or more by 30 September were entered into a prize draw. The 2027 partner list is not posted yet, so the charities below are 2026 official partners.