Toronto Will Receive $97m from Ontario To Host 2026 FIFA World Cup

Summary

• Toronto is set to host a minimum of 5 FIFA World Cup Games in 2026
• Toronto will get $97 million in funding from Ontario towards the FIFA World Cup
• Canadian Taxpayers Federation protests over huge expenditures that taxpayers will have to bear

The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted by the Canada, Mexico and the United States making it the first time in FIFA history that three nations will host the World Cup.

The FIFA World Cup in 2026 will start sometime in June and end on 19 July with the start date to be finalized later.

Toronto Will Get $97 Million in Funds

Toronto is set to host a minimum of 5 World Cup games and the BMO Field will receive a massive upgrade to be up to FIFA Standards. Toronto will receive around $97 million in funding from Ontario in order to prepare for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

A letter was made public this week which was sent by Sarah Harrison, Deputy Tourism, Culture and Sport Minister to the city manager of Toronto. Part of the letter read

Ontario’s investment to support this event is exclusively limited to investments that will build lasting public infrastructure and benefits that will serve the community long after the games are over.

Olivia Chow, Mayor of Toronto has said that the Federal Government is very committed to hosting the FIFA games. In a statement, Chow said

We’ve been in conversation with the federal government, and it’s been very positive and there will be more details coming forward. As our two levels of government work together to implement this deal, we urge the city to limit public investment in the FIFA World Cup 2026 to the greatest extent possible.

There is a lot of work left to be done before the FIFA World Cup commences and there are concerns that rising costs and expenses could go well over the estimated budget that Toronto expected.

Canadian Taxpayers Federation Not Happy

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is not happy with the government spending millions of dollars to fund the soccer tournament using taxpayer money. Tax payers in Toronto are estimated to be paying around $41.2 million to renovate and upgrade training facilities near the BMO stadium.  

The Federation says that FIFA should be the ones funding the expenditure from their ticket sales and advertising rights and not the common man.