NATIONAL PULSE – ‘Public costs not worth the benefits of hosting Cup’
(Image: CC0 Creative Commons, Pixabay.com)
By ANGUS REID INSTITUTE
June 9, 2026 – Before a single ball is kicked, a single substation made or a single red card shown, the pre-game rituals of people living in Canada’s two World Cup host cities – Vancouver and Toronto – include more pessimism and criticism than cheer and song.
New data from the non-profit Angus Reid Institute finds seven-in-10 in both Greater Toronto (70%) and Metro Vancouver (72%) saying the public costs of reportedly $1 billion apiece in funding across multiple levels of government are “not worth” the trade-offs of hosting the world, and the World Cup, in their home cities.
At issue for city residents: disruption, street closures, and security perimeters; lopsided accrual of revenue to FIFA, soccer’s global governing body; and a rearrangement of their city’s summer cultural and event calendar that many view as an “unacceptable” requirement of hosting.
In both Vancouver and Toronto, there are more who say they are “disinterested” in watching the matches in any way (51%, 59% respectively) than 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%); same goes for those in Metro Vancouver (51%, 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.
ArmchairMayor.ca 
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