It's 1 year until the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Is Vancouver ready?

CBC

a day ago

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One year out from the FIFA World Cup, questions remain about where soccer fans visiting Vancouver will stay and how much it will cost to keep the city safe.
Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim spoke to reporters at an event marking the one-year countdown to the tournament on Wednesday, saying the city began working on security plans even before it was confirmed to host seven 2026 World Cup games.
He says those plans were "augmented" after 11 people were killed when a man drove a car into a crowd at the Lapu-Lapu Day festival in April.
The security costs have not been publicly released, but Sim says the city will "make the necessary investments to make sure that people are safe in the city of Vancouver" during the event.
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Toronto and Vancouver are slated to host 13 FIFA World Cup games in 2026, and the security budgets have gone up by tens of millions of dollars. Some are asking if it's worth it.
Spencer Chandra Herbert, B.C.'s minister of tourism, arts, culture and sport, says the province will release a "full costing" later this month, updating how much it expects to spend on the World Cup.
Back in April 2024, B.C. organizers estimated the cost at between $483 million and $581 million for city and provincial services, as well as upgrades to B.C. Place stadium.
Vancouver Coun. Sean Orr said he isn't convinced the economic benefits of the tournament will outweigh concerns about cost overruns, security, and potential long-term effects on housing affordability.
"I just don't know if throwing a party in the midst of, you know, [a] potential downturn in the economy is the best plan right now," he told CBC News.
"We've got threats of tariffs, we've got, you know, downturns in the market ... is this the best use of our resources right now? That's my big concern."
Hotel rooms up in the air
About 350,000 people are expected to visit Vancouver during the World Cup, Chandra Herbert said at Wednesday's event.
Questions have been raised about where they'll stay, as a city report released in April noted there are just 13,000 rooms spread across 78 hotels within the municipality.
The report found that Vancouver lost about 550 hotel rooms between 2020 and 2022, in part because some older hotels were converted to housing for vulnerable people.
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Royce Chwin, CEO of Destination Vancouver, said the seven matches Vancouver will host will be spread throughout June and July of next year, leading to an "ebb and flow" of visitors.
"We had nine hotels in the pipeline a couple years ago," he told CBC News. "We're now up to 23 because we're getting the word out there."
Tourists may need to get creative during the tournament, Chandra Herbert suggested.
"We're working with our hotel partners across the province," he said. "We think there's opportunity for people to stay further afield.
"We know Hullo and B.C. Ferries, we're looking at them as an opportunity for overflow, even all the way to Nanaimo," the minister added. "Of course, out in the [Fraser] Valley."
Chandra Herbert said some Vancouver residents may also look to rent out their homes during the World Cup.
Both the province and the City of Vancouver have regulations for short-term rentals, including rules on what types of homes can be used. In Vancouver, all operators must also have a business licence.
The FIFA World Cup kicks off on June 11, 2026, with opening games in Mexico City and Guadalajara. Toronto and Vancouver are the two Canadian cities hosting matches, as part of the 16 host cities across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
Vancouver will stage five opening-round games starting June 13, plus a round-of-32 and a round-of-16 match.