One year out, there are still many uncertainties about FIFA 2026 in Vancouver

Editor’s note: This story was update on June 13 to include a statement from the city’s host committee.

What happened: It’s officially one year until the 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup kicks off in Vancouver. But there’s still uncertainty about many issues, including where visitors will stay, how much it will cost, and what the impact will be on other annual events that aren’t allowed to take place during the tournament. 

Background: Vancouver is set to host seven World Cup matches between June 13 and July 7, 2026, including five group stage games – two of which will feature Canada’s Men’s National Team – and two elimination matches later in the tournament. The schedule of other teams playing in Vancouver won’t be finalized until December. 

• FIFA also plans to hold its national congress in Vancouver in April 2026, with 1,600 expected to attend, according to Mayor Ken Sim.

Accommodation uncertainty: A major theme this week has been uncertainty over where visitors should stay when they flock to the city in the summer of 2026.

At a FIFA countdown event hosted by the Greater Vancouver Board of Trade earlier this week, tourism advocates pointed to Vancouver’s stagnant hotel supply – which they’ve been working with city hall to improve – as an issue for the estimated 350,000 visitors who will attend the seven games. 

• Vancouver currently has about 13,000 hotel rooms. 

The city and province are in conversations about allowing an exemption to short-term rental restrictions for the tournament, according to BIV. The various rules currently limit the types of spaces that can be rented out and require business licenses to operate in the city.

Minister Spencer Chandra Herbert said there’s an opportunity for people to stay in hotels outside Vancouver, suggesting they might come in from the Fraser Valley or as far away as Nanaimo, according to CBC. 

• Ironically, those visitors staying outside the city would not be paying the extra 2.5% tax on short-term accommodations that was introduced in 2023 to help pay for World Cup costs.

The cost: There’s also not been a firm budget for the tournament set by the province. Chandra Herbet, the MLA for the West End and B.C.’s minister of tourism, arts, culture, and sport, said the province will release a full costing for the event later this month. 

In 2022, the estimated cost to host five games was between $240 and $260 million, but, by April 2024, two more games had been added and the estimated public costs more than doubled to between $483 million and $581 million, according to the Vancouver Sun. 

• The 2024 estimate included a $246-276 million bill for the city to pay for a fan festival at Hastings Park, training facilities, security, and traffic and stadium management. 

About 75-80 per cent of those total estimated costs are expected to be covered by revenues and a $116 million contribution from the federal government. 

Potential economic benefits: Meanwhile, the province has said during the World Cup and in the five years that follow, the tournament could generate over 1 million additional visitors from outside B.C. who could spend over $1 billion. 

Opaque process: The city has been criticized for their approach to choosing locations for training sites, and for a lack of transparency in their obligations to share certain agreements and correspondence about plans for the World Cup. 

As we covered extensively last winter, the city and park board’s plan to set up a training venue in Memorial South Park, near Fraser and 41st Avenue, was strongly criticized by community members and park board commissioners for a lack of public consultation, minimal legacy amenities, and a long-term closure of public space. 

• In January, the city made a surprising last-minute move to host that training facility at UBC’s soccer centre instead. Neighbours who opposed the project were elated by the decision. 

The province’s information and privacy commissioner has been critical of how FIFA and the city have censored some information contained in their agreements about the tournament, including the host city agreement, according to The Breaker. 

Each of the 16 host cities have an agreement with FIFA, a contract that outlines the many responsibilities and requirments involved in hosting part of the tournament.  

The contract has a general confidentiality clause, with an exception for disclosure required by relevant laws. That includes B.C.’s freedom of information (FOI) law. When requested under a similar public records law, Seattle released a minimally redacted version of their agreement with FIFA. Toronto’s contract was also obtained through an FOI, and reportedly contains similar or verbatim language to the contracts with other cities.   

• Vancouver has until July 15 to release further information about the host city agreement, as well as other correspondence and contracts. 

No other events: One notable clause reportedly included in the original release of Vancouver’s host contract was a provision prohibiting other major events around the host city’s tournament dates. 

According to the language in Seattle’s agreement, that includes prohibiting “substantial cultural events (such as music concerts) which draw together large numbers of people,” anywhere in the city around match days, aside from events sanctioned by FIFA. In Vancouver, that would mean larger events, festivals, and concerts could not take place for about three weeks in June and early July of 2026. 

The city confirmed the existence of the event restriction period in Vancouver. It’s intended “to support the safe and successful delivery of this global event and ensure that resources are managed and deployed effectively,” the city’s host committee said in a statement to Vancity Lookout. They also said they are working with organizers for events taking place over a six-week period from early June to mid July.

This year, some of the big annual events in the city during that time-period include Khatsahlano Street Party on West 4th in Kits, Greek Day on Broadway west of Macdonald, the International Jazz Festival which hosts shows all over the city, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra’s concert at Sunset Beach, the Dragon Boat Festival near Science World and along False Creek, and Canada Day events and celebrations, like those on Granville Island. 

Other major sporting events are also not allowed for over a month (from June 6 to July 14). That has the potential to impact events like the Gastown Grand Prix cycling race, taking place this year on July 9, regular season home games at Nat Bailey Stadium for the Vancouver Canadians, and a possible (while unlikely) run to the Stanley Cup Final by the Vancouver Canucks next year. 

“We expect most annual events to proceed in some form, though some may see adjustments in timing, location or scale. The City is already working closely with several event organizers to explore options,” the host committee said.

“Events are being reviewed carefully, and the City will work with both event organizers and FIFA to minimize impacts as much as possible,” they added.  

For some, it may not be an issue. For example, next year’s Khatsahlano event will naturally fall after the FIFA exclusion window, Jane McFadden with the West 4th Avenue BIA told Vancity Lookout. 

Other organizers may be able to move the timing or location of their events to avoid the exclusion period, but there’s also potential for annual local events to be cancelled outright in 2026. Canada Day events fall squarely into that period, and may not happen or will move to other parts of the region.    

What it means: A year out, and with many of these annual events about to take place in the next few weeks, it’s not yet clear how big of an impact this no major events clause will have on all the big celebrations and festivals that happen at this time of year. 

However, it does seem imperative that the city not let a minor requirement from FIFA, the organizers of one of the world’s biggest events, undermine or cause hardship for the local annual events that Vancouverites will enjoy this year, and (hopefully) long after FIFA leaves town.