Mississauga ends Paramount Fine Foods naming deal over unpaid $1.6 million

The food counters at Mississauga’s main sports and entertainment venue are changing hands as the city ended its naming rights and concession agreement with Paramount Fine Foods over an alleged $1.6 million debt. For the cooks, servers and concession workers tied to the complex at 5500 Rose Cherry Place, the stakes go beyond a sign on the building: the city is taking over food operations, even as it says scheduled events will keep running without disruption.

The City of Mississauga said the agreement ended effective June 1, 2026, and that it had unilaterally terminated the contract for lack of payment. City staff said Paramount Fine Foods owes $1.6 million and that the municipality will pursue legal action in the coming weeks to recover the money. The building will temporarily be called the Mississauga Sports and Entertainment Centre while the city looks for a new naming partner.

Officials said there will be no impact to existing bookings, programs, rentals or scheduled events, a reassurance that matters to the venue’s workers as much as to ticket buyers. The facility is a major Mississauga sports and entertainment complex and home to Raptors 905, so any financial dispute around the property can quickly reach the people staffing concessions, cleaning stands, and keeping service moving on event nights.

The naming-rights relationship dates back to 2018, when Mississauga announced a 10-year naming rights and food-services agreement with Paramount Fine Foods. The Hershey Centre was renamed the Paramount Fine Foods Centre on July 1, 2018, marking a high-profile partnership that tied the restaurant chain’s name to one of the city’s best-known arenas.

Paramount founder and CEO Mohamad Fakih said the company had delivered cheques to the city for the full amount based on the agreed payment terms. He said he had been trying to resolve the matter since December and accused the city of adding conditions and demands that made a final resolution impossible. In a separate public statement, Fakih said Paramount was ending its sponsorship deal with the municipality and redirecting community investment toward new initiatives and opportunities across Mississauga.

The company’s chief executive has not publicly responded to the city’s allegations. For the employees who work around the arena’s food service operation, the immediate question is whether the dispute stays a contract fight or turns into a more ordinary workplace problem, with new management, new procedures and another round of uncertainty layered onto an industry already defined by churn.