It looks like SARS-scarred Toronto will be getting some "satisfaction" after all. Local and federal officials have announced a Rolling Stones concert to help boost tourism.

"We're very happy to tell you that we're coming to play on July 30 in a great concert for the people and city of Toronto to help bring back the energy to our favourite city," Mick Jagger said in a pre-taped announcement broadcast at a downtown Toronto news conference.

Molson Canadian Rocks for Toronto will be held at the Downsview air base in the north end of the city and will also feature AC/DC, Justin Timberlake and Canadian acts such as The Guess Who, Sam Roberts and Sass Jordan.

Dan Aykroyd and Jim Belushi will host.

"With special guests and a lineup of this quality ... this show is certainly the concert event of the decade if not the century," Steve Howard of TGA Entertainment, which will produce the event, told reporters.

Tickets go on sale Friday and will cost $21.50 a piece. All profits plus $1 from each ticket will go to Molson's hospitality employee fund and frontline health care worker fund.

At the peak of the SARS outbreak in March, the Stones cancelled concert dates in China. But Howard said the Stones "didn't hesitate for a moment" when they were asked to play the Toronto show.

"I think you can tell from the video that the Rolling Stones do have a special place in their hearts for Toronto and for Canadians," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister John Manley, Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman and local MP Dennis Mills were among those on hand for the official announcement.

Along with Senator Jerry Grafstein, Mills spent weeks trying to secure funds for the show. Last month, when Prime Minister Jean Chretien refused to commit $10 million towards the cost of a stage, lights, sound, security and booking other Canadian artists who will join the lineup, it looked like efforts to roll in the Stones would be a wash.

But Ottawa later agreed to contribute. According to reports, the federal government is kicking in $3 million towards the tab. The province of Ontario and corporate sponsor Molson Canada are also chipping in.

Earlier this month, a study commissioned by the Hotel Association of Canada found that Toronto lost $190 million in tourism revenue between March and May. Analysts say with peak tourist season just getting underway, the real toll has yet to be felt.

Mills said he hoped the show would help reduce the fallout by drawing thousands of fans to Toronto. "We're hoping by the end of July that with this event we'll bring at least 150,000 of our neighbours from the south and fill up every motel and hotel from Niagara Falls right through to Oshawa," he said.

Manley said he welcomes the thousands of visitors he expects will come from south of the border. "Let this be the biggest invasion of Canada from the United States since the War of 1812. Bring them on."

But Lastman said while the concert sends the message out to the rest of the world, he wants Toronto residents to enjoy it too -- whether or not they are rock music fans. "I'd like to urge businesses to close early on the day of the concert. The opportunity to see the Rolling Stones live is too good to pass up. If the Stones don't do it for you, go shopping, visit a ballgame.

"I want the people of this city to be out enjoying this city all summer long."

The concert announcement comes hot on the heels of another major show aimed at revitalizing Toronto's economy. On Saturday night, 11 Canadian acts -- including Tragically Hip, the Barenaked Ladies and Avril Lavigne -- rocked out for 70,000 fans at SkyDome and the Air Canada Centre.