A majority of British Columbians think hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2026 is not worth the cost, according to new polling from Léger, commissioned by the CTF. 

“British Columbians understand that spending more than half-a-billion taxpayer dollars to host a few international soccer games is not worth the cost,” said Carson Binda, B.C. Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation. “Normal families are struggling to make ends meet, while this government plans to waste a million dollars per minute hosting seven soccer games.” 

Among British Columbians with an opinion: 

• 55 per cent think the cost of the games is not worth it 
• 45 per cent think the cost of the games is worth it

When undecided answers are included, the majority still oppose the FIFA spending:

• 50 per cent think the games are not worth the cost
• 40 per cent think the games are worth the cost
• 10 per cent are undecided

The government projects that hosting seven games out of 104 FIFA World Cup games in 2026 could cost B.C. taxpayers up to $581 million.  

“Instead of wasting more than half a billion dollars on a handful of soccer games, the province and city of Vancouver need to be focused on saving taxpayers money,” Binda said. “Mayor Ken Sim and Premier David Eby need to put an end to this boondoggle and withdraw Vancouver from the list of host cities.” 

“Hosting the FIFA World Cup is overall ineffective in tourism promotion,” according to a 2019 paper from the University of Hamburg published in the academic Journal of Tourism Economics. 

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