Seven in 10 people in Toronto, Vancouver say World Cup cost 'not worth' trade-offs
· Toronto Sun
All that glitters, 2026 FIFA World Cup-wise, is not necessarily gold.
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Despite promises of economic boosts in Canada’s two World Cup hosting cities — Toronto and Vancouver — the majority of those polled by Angus Reid say the matches are not worth the public costs.
New Angus Reid data finds seven-in-10 in both the GTA (70%) and Metro Vancouver (72%) say the public costs, reportedly $1 billion each, are “not worth” the trade-offs of hosting the World Cup in their home cities.
The biggest issues for residents in both cities are disruption, street closures, security perimeters, lopsided revenue going to FIFA, and the rearranging of their summer events, which many view as an “unacceptable” requirement of hosting.
Many Vancouverites and Torontonians are not interested
In both Vancouver and Toronto, there are more who say they are “disinterested” in watching the matches in any way (51%, 59% respectively) than are excited the World Cup is coming to their cities (34%, 39% respectively).
More in the GTA believe hosting the World Cup is a poor investment for Toronto (47%) than a good one (20%) and the same goes for those in Metro Vancouver (51% to 21%).
And when the final bill is tallied, only one-third in each city (Toronto, 33%; Vancouver, 32%) believe their municipal government will be fully transparent about the total cost of hosting.
Toronto hosts its first of six 2026 FIFA World Cup matches on Friday when Canada plays Bosnia and Herzegovina at Toronto Stadium (BMO Field), while Vancouver hosts its first of seven 2026 FIFA World Cup matches on Saturday at BC Place when Australia plays Türkiye.
The Angus Reid Institute conducted an online survey from May 7–11, among a randomized sample of 1,803 Canadian adults.
For comparison purposes only, a probability sample of this size would carry a margin of error of +/- 2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.