As excitement builds around the world for this year’s FIFA World Cup tournament, residents and small businesses in Canada’s host cities are bracing for daily disruptions that range from inconvenient to possibly dangerous.
Sixteen cities across Canada, Mexico and the U.S. are co-hosting the global soccer tournament. Canada’s cities — Vancouver and Toronto — are home to a combined 13 games, including Team Canada’s opener on Friday.
But as soccer fans descend on Canada’s host cities, residents and community groups are bracing for the complications associated with major events like the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics.
Coun. Ausma Malik, who represents some of the most affected neighbourhoods in Toronto, said she’s spoken with residents regularly over the past year.
“I share their priorities that include getting through the neighbourhood safely and efficiently, timely and relevant communications, addressing issues quickly and managing crowds,” she told CBC News Friday.
“As the local councillor for our communities, I know the impact of the games will be most felt in our neighbourhoods,” Malik told CBC News previously.
Local businesses prepare to welcome fans for FIFA World Cup games
Concerns range from litter and noise in downtown neighbourhoods to traffic congestion and even safety for unhoused people who fear they’ll be mistreated as the city ramps up law enforcement for the event. Police have also warned residents about a potential uptick in pickpocketing and petty theft.
In Toronto’s Liberty Village neighbourhood, adjacent to Toronto Stadium, local businesses have spent the last year preparing for the moment.
“There is a strong sense of excitement across Liberty Village and the surrounding area,” said Abhi Kathuria, executive director of the Liberty Village BIA.
“At the same time, businesses are being practical and planning ahead. Many are reviewing staffing schedules, delivery logistics, customer communications and operating hours to ensure they can continue serving customers effectively during match days.”
‘Wait and see’: Vancouver’s verdict on hosting the World Cup uncertain as tournament begins
What Toronto residents need to know ahead of the FIFA World Cup
Indeed, businesses have sent emails out to clients warning of delays and traffic chokeholds. On match days, specifically, the city is implementing several road closures in and around Toronto’s Liberty Village and Fort York neighbourhoods. The same is true across areas of downtown Vancouver.
That’s why local officials and local businesses have suggested people walk, bike or take public transit to get in and out of affected areas.
“We’re equally focused on ensuring that employees can get to work, clients can access appointments, deliveries can reach businesses and local businesses can fully participate in the economic benefits of the tournament,” Kathuria told CBC News.
Nearby, residents also have some questions in Toronto’s Fort York neighbourhood, where a city-run fan festival is taking place.
“We do have some concerns about litter and how that will be handled with the high volume of visitors that will be coming to the area,” Jennifer Poon, a volunteer executive member of Fort York Neighbourhood Association, previously told CBC News.
Meanwhile, some of Vancouver and Toronto’s most vulnerable residents have their own concerns — specifically about an increase in private security and police presence during the tournament.
“An event like this shines a spotlight on the city in a way that we want to look spic-and-span,” said Angie Hocking, a community minister and member of the Toronto Underhoused and Homeless Union (TUHU). “So it creates a dynamic where certain people just by the sight of them are seen as a problem.”
The result, she said, is police and private security profiling residents deemed “undesirable,” including unhoused people — something already reported at Toronto’s busy Union Station.
Toronto’s FIFA human rights action plan is out, but advocates say it falls short for unhoused people
“What we’ve been seeing at Union Station over the last two months is people have been targeted based on how they look, asked to leave, get tickets for loitering,” she said. “This is a public space that’s for public use, so it’s pretty wild to tell people they can’t go to the main transit hub.”
“Also, we’ve heard of actual violence, of people being harassed, bullied and even beat up,” Hocking added.
City spokesperson Russell Baker has said Toronto will support unhoused people through a “people-first, human rights-based” approach.
Baker said a pilot launched at Union Station in April with Metrolinx, the Toronto Transit Commission, Toronto police and other partners aims to strengthen co-ordination among existing outreach, health, housing and crisis-response teams.
“Co-ordination between outreach, maintenance and security has also been enhanced to help keep the station safe and welcoming for all,” Baker said.
Advocates say the mere presence of police can make vulnerable people feel uncomfortable, and they would like to see more shelters and respite spots made available.
Some East Vancouver residents frustrated over new traffic calming measures
Sebastien Desormiers said he experienced assault at the hands of private security in a bathroom when he was previously unhoused. Today, he advocates alongside Hocking with TUHU and said “everybody” he’s in touch with is worried about increased policing and what it means for their safety and comfort.
“This is not just a Toronto problem; this is happening around the world,” Desormiers said. “People are experiencing displacement and harm at these games.”
In the leadup to this year’s FIFA World Cup tournament, cities had to devise human rights action plans. But advocates say they don’t go far enough.
Chantelle Spicer, Vancouver-based co-director of BC Poverty Reduction Coalition and member of the Anti-FIFA Coalition, said in an email to CBC News that Vancouver’s Human Rights Action Plan “falls well short of the breadth and scope of the human rights response that hosting a megaevent like the World Cup demands.”
It “does little to mitigate the risks that the city itself has invited by agreeing to host the 2026 Games,” she said.
The reality on the ground has advocates and experts asking: Who is this tournament really for?
“It seems like we are hosting a half a billion-dollar private event at the lakeshore with public funding,” said David Roberts, an associate professor with the University of Toronto’s department of geography and planning.
Cost of hosting World Cup in Canada questioned
“I think we missed the ball in legacy planning,” Roberts said, noting that the money invested in FIFA — which is a temporary event — could have instead gone towards long-term projects that benefit local communities.
“I can think of a million other ways to spend half a billion dollars that would have so many more benefits for the city.”
What Toronto residents need to know ahead of the FIFA World Cup
Roberts said that the biggest thing the World Cup has to offer is that it’s fun.
And there is plenty of local excitement brewing: businesses are decorating their storefronts with international flags, offering watch parties and touting deals during World Cup matches to entice customers. Meanwhile, the streets are full of smiling fans wearing colourful jerseys from all over the world.
“I think overall we’re excited to have this really big event showcase our neighborhood and take place right in our backyard. It’s a really great opportunity for the entire neighborhood, residents and businesses and visitors alike,” Poon said.
