Drake lookalike contest coming to Toronto and the rapper is giving $10K to the winner

If you, like me, haven’t been able to escape the viral “lookalike contests” all over social media in the past weeks, you’ve also likely shared my premonition that it’s only a matter of time before someone in Toronto takes a stab at the trend.

Well, the time has come, with the first-ever lookalike contest to be held in Toronto — and, perhaps Canada at large, — scheduled to cause pandemonium in the city this weekend, and the celeb at the centre of it all couldn’t be a more fitting choice.

While contests have been held around the United States for celebrities such as Timothee Chalamet (the one that started it all), The Bear’s Jeremy Allen White and even the much-memed character, Boq, from the new Wicked movie, Toronto is opting to honour a hometown hero for our event: none other than good-old Drake.

It’s a particularly apt choice for the city, especially given the numerous occasions on which Toronto has found itself up in arms over a Drake appearance only to later find out it was simply a particularly convincing — though sometimes less-so — lookalike behind the stir.

Some people, like Toronto man Isaiah Sharpe, have even managed to score their own notoriety in the past, thanks to their resemblance to the 6ix God.

Organized by Toronto-based cake pop business Casuals Cakery, the event is set to take place at Apt. 200 (which somehow feels equally as fitting) on Dec. 14, between 4 and 6 p.m.

While, originally, the winner was set to receive a “certified Toronto Mans” prize pack, including a bottle of Hennessy, a pack of Backwoods rolling papers and “other surprises,” Drake himself is upping the ante by offering a cash prize after catching wind of the contest — because of course he did.

In a screenshot shared by Casuals Cakery on Instagram, the rapper promises to award “10 bands” to the winner, quite possibly a reference to his song, “10 Bands,” or, more likely, an earnest expression of joy at his sustained relevance in the city.

The event is “Drake Eras” themed, so participants can show up representing Drake through the ages, from Degrassi all the way to his more recent fatherhood-and-braids era. Just don’t bring an actual child — it’s a 19-plus event.

There’s also a very real possibility, given the rapper’s penchant for popping up around the city, that Drake might even make a guest appearance at the event, a la Chalamet, but you’ll just have to swing by to find out.

Worst case scenario, you can rest assured that even if the real Drake, who was recently crowned among the top pop stars of the century, doesn’t show up, there’ll be dozens of people around who at least look like him.