Government Cost to Host 13 FIFA World Cup Games Exceeds $1 Billion: PBO

Co-hosting the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup in Canada will cost slightly over $1 billion, according to the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO).

Canada will host 13 of the 104 soccer games played across North America, Mexico, and Canada between June 11 and July 19. Six will be played in Toronto, and seven in Vancouver.

Around $473 million in funding will come from the federal government, while $593 million will come from other levels of government, according to a PBO report published May 20.

The funding from the federal government includes $220 million from the department of Canadian heritage, $145 million from Public Safety Canada, and $79 million from the RCMP.

B.C. Public Safety Minister Nina Krieger said in April that the province would receive $100 million from the federal government for World Cup security, but that the final amount would evolve as security arrangements were finalized.

The PBO said in its May 20 analysis that Canada is expected to spend $82 million per game. By contrast, it cost Russia $109.5 million per game to host the tournament in 2018, Brazil $125 million per game in 2014, and South Africa $101.3 million per game in 2010.

Meanwhile, France paid just $22 million per game in 1998, while Germany paid around $50 million per game in 2006.

“Using this frame, it appears Canada’s costs are roughly in line with what was spent per game on previous tournaments,” the report said. However, it cautioned that estimates for previous World Cups should be “interpreted as lower bound estimates” because they only include organization costs and sports venue costs.

The PBO also estimated that around $128.1 million of the federal contribution to the games could be classified as a capital expenditure, but said that amount is not expected to be classified as capital expenditure in the public accounts. Prior to the 2025 federal budget, the Liberal government announced it would separate day-to-day operational spending from capital investments in all future federal budgets.

According to the PBO, around $126.1 million of that capital expenditure will be allocated to the BMO Field in Toronto, B.C. Place in Vancouver, and other FIFA training sites in Canada.

When Canada hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, the costs totalled $8.8 billion, including $3.4 billion for transportation, $1.38 billion for security, and $1.24 billion to build the Vancouver Convention Centre.

Canada’s first few games will be played against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Qatar, Switzerland, and Ireland.

Prime Minister Mark Carney told an audience in B.C. on May 20 that he had spoken with the King of Spain Felipe VI the previous day, and pledged that “in the unlikely event that Canada is knocked out of the World Cup, I will consider backing Spain.”

Carney said the king had pledged to back Canada if Spain was knocked out of the tournament.