Canada to – Canada’s federal budget watchdog says governments will spend $1.066 billion to host the World Cup in Toronto and Vancouver this summer, with the federal government contributing an expected $473 million and security funding already earmarked.
For many Canadians, the World Cup is arriving with a familiar question attached: what will it cost.
A federal budget watchdog says governments across Canada are set to spend just over $1 billion to host the tournament this summer. with the total expected to reach $1.066 billion. That figure covers money from all levels of government. and it breaks down to an expected $473 million from the federal government.
The math works out to about $82 million per game for the 13 matches scheduled to be played in Toronto and Vancouver. The parliamentary budget officer also says the overall level is roughly in line with what previous host countries spent.
Canada is co-hosting this year’s tournament with the United States and Mexico. More than 100 matches are scheduled across all three countries between June 11 and July 19, meaning the World Cup’s scale will be felt far beyond Canada’s two host cities.
Security spending has already been part of the planning. In April. the federal government said it was allocating up to $145 million for security at the World Cup. with the funding aimed at resources for law enforcement agencies. At the time. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree said welcoming World Cup crowds would require a massive coordinated effort and called the tournament one of the biggest and most complicated sporting events Canada has ever hosted.
Ottawa previously said it would allocate up to $320 million for hosting. The watchdog report also points to existing provincial and municipal estimates. The $578 million B.C. hosting cost does not appear to be a new estimate—it is described as the median in a costing range issued by the B.C. government last June, between $532 million and $624 million. Toronto’s $380 million hosting cost had already been announced.
In the PBO’s breakdown, most government funding in the report will go to hosting costs in Toronto and Vancouver. Vancouver will host seven games and Toronto will host six.
“The parliamentary budget officer said that. as of April 2026. the most recent municipal and provincial budgets had indicated that. including federal grants. the City of Toronto intended to spend a total of $380 million on its city-level hosting costs while the Province of British Columbia intended to spend a total of $578 million. ” the report states.
The watchdog added that expected costs for municipal and provincial governments may change, with updates to municipal and provincial spending plans possibly announced in the coming weeks.
Public support exists, but it’s not translating into total comfort with how taxpayer money is being used. A Leger poll in March found that 74 per cent of Canadians support Canada hosting World Cup matches. But among those polled, 65 per cent said they were concerned about the use of taxpayer funds and government spending.
“Although Canadians support hosting, they are not carefree about it. They continue to voice practical concerns about it. Their biggest concern is public spending,” Leger said in an online post.
Half of respondents said they were concerned about protests or security disruptions. Leger polled 1. 639 Canadians online between March 13 and 16. and the Canadian Research Insights Council. an industry organization that promotes polling standards. says online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
The World Cup’s arrival in Toronto and Vancouver is still months and logistics away from matchday—but the spending totals are already sharpening the debate over what Canadians believe the tournament should deliver.
Canada World Cup parliamentary budget officer hosting costs Toronto Vancouver federal government Gary Anandasangaree security spending