FIFA World Cup expected to cost Canada more than $1B

Your Morning Vancouver speaks to Kalith Nanayakkara from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business about how prepared local businesses are.

Canada is expected to spend more than $1 billion on the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, according to a report from the federal budgetary watchdog.

The estimated cost per game is $82 million, the Parliamentary Budget Officer forecasts, noting that figure is in line with past public spending on World Cup events.

Canada is one of three host nations, along with the U.S. and Mexico. The games in Canada, which run from June 11 to July 19, are split between Toronto and Vancouver. Seven will take place in Vancouver, and six in Toronto.

Those 13 games come with an estimated $1.07 billion price tag, $473 million of which will come from Ottawa, and the remainder coming from other levels of government.

As of April, the City of Toronto intended to spend $380 million on hosting fees, which includes existing federal grants. B.C. planned to spend $578 million.

Cost of the games

Looking at cost-per-game, here’s how previous FIFA World Cups compare to Canada’s spending:

• Canada (2026): $82 million
• Russia (2018): $109 million
• Brazil (2014): $125 million
• South Africa (2010): $101 million
• Germany (2006): $51 million
• Japan/South Korea (1998): $112 million

What about revenue?

A backgrounder document revealing insights from B.C. provincial projections estimated the games would result in $1 billion added to provincial GDP.

More than one million people are expected to visit B.C. and spend more than $1 billion. The province also estimated it could receive up to $224 million in tax revenues.

In Toronto’s budget breakdown, it estimates total revenues amounting to $236 million. About $35 million of that would come from commercial and rental fees, as well as operating services.

The remainder comes from reserve funding, as well as federal and provincial grants.