Toronto/IBNS: The Toronto pride parade which brings tens of thousands of colourfully clad celebrants downtown each year, was held on Sunday with 100 different groups marching at the corner of Church Street and Bloor Street East.

Continuing southbound along Yonge Street before turning right on Dundas Street West and ending at Nathan Phillips Square, the parade's celebrations continued into the night.

Thousands of revelers, many waving rainbow fans under sunny skies at Canada's largest Pride parade voiced their support for a community facing rising levels of hate and intolerance.

Due to the fact that LGBTQ people are facing increasing attacks on their hard-won rights, several marchers with some carrying banners featuring slogans such as "protect trans youth" and "protect trans kids" said that they were extra motivated to attend this year's parade.

Pride event planners in Toronto and beyond significantly stepped up security measures with the federal government having pitched in with more than $1.3 million in emergency funding to help with security costs at Pride events.

Organizers of Sunday's Pride Toronto Parade said they spent twice as much money on policing for this year's event than it did in 2022.

Present in the march were some prominent politicians, including federal Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, federal NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and a few candidates hoping to be elected as the city's mayor in Monday's byelection.

Having attended Toronto's Pride parade in the past, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau missed this year's festivities due to a two-day summit of Nordic leaders in Iceland.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)