Hosting World Cup projected to cost province up to $729 million

VANCOUVER — Hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup is projected to cost British Columbians up to $729 million, the province has revealed.

When projected revenues, recoveries, and contributions — 80% of which are already locked in — are taken into account, the total net cost falls to between $90 million and $114 million.

According to the government of British Columbia, between June 2025 and May 2026, projected gross core and essential costs rose from between $532 million to $624 million to between $685 million and $729 million.

This is due in large part to the safety and security costs, which were only recently estimated amid global tensions and the full lineup of countries represented. Those alone come in at around $242 million.

Projected revenues, recoveries, and contributions also rose from between $448 million and $478 million to between $595 million and $615 million.

In June 2025, net costs were estimated to be between $85 million and $145 million. The new projections are between $5 million and $31 million less.

Bringing the tournament to Vancouver was initially projected to cost $230 million. During a press conference on Friday, Sport Minister Anne Kang was asked why it's now triple that.

"We did not provide the safety and security estimates last June because we didn't know the parameters and a lot of the aspects of what FIFA would require of us," she said. "The bump that we see this year is with safety and security."

Kang suggested that the costs should be viewed as an investment, arguing that "we will see an additional 100 million people in the next five years visiting here and ... an additional $1 billion of GDP growth."

Revenue is expected to come from a number of sources, including hotel taxes. When asked whether he's concerned about a perceived lack of bookings, Jobs Minister Ravi Kahlon urged people not to jump to conclusions.

"The gap that we have right now is the fact that we don’t know who’s gonna be in the Round of 32, we don't know who's gonna be in the Round of 16," he said. "When we know that, that’s when we’ll see a flurry of interest from ... those fans who wanna come here."

He noted that hotel bookings have already risen by 14% since last week.

The World Cup is set to kick off on June 11, with Vancouver hosting seven games between June 13 and July 7.