Cost of Hosting FIFA Adding Burden to Host Cities Vancouver, Toronto: Canadian Taxpayers Federation

FIFA Hosting Expenses Putting Financial Strain on Vancouver and Toronto: Canadian Taxpayers Federation

February 29, 2024 TruthUSA

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation (CTF) is urging Vancouver’s mayor to disclose updated cost estimates for hosting the FIFA World Cup games.

Vancouver and Toronto have been selected as the two Canadian venues to host matches for the 2026 football tournament, alongside 16 host cities throughout North America.

“Vancouver taxpayers deserve transparency when significant amounts of money are at stake,” stated Carson Binda, British Columbia director for the CTF, in a Feb. 28 press release.

“Costs have escalated in Toronto, and Vancouver must be forthcoming with its taxpayers about the anticipated expenses for the soccer games,” he added.

Vancouver Expenses

In Vancouver, the estimated cost of organizing, staging, and hosting the matches ranged between $240 million and $260 million as of June 2022, when the exact number of matches to be held in the city was still undetermined.

The CTF highlights that the provincial and municipal governments have not provided updated cost estimates.

“They need to be transparent about the numbers and inform taxpayers about the financial impact of these soccer games,” stated Mr. Binda.

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In January 2023, Vancouver introduced a temporary 2.5 percent “accommodation tax,” aimed at short-term accommodation sales, to generate funds for hosting the games.

The tax was anticipated to generate approximately $230 million in revenue over a seven-year period to cover the city’s incremental expenses linked to the tournament. This figure included costs for planning, staging, and hosting but excluded B.C. Place Stadium expenses, as indicated by the city at that time.

A City of Vancouver representative informed The Epoch Times via email that the city had initially budgeted for hosting five matches but now plans to host seven. The representative mentioned that the city will explore updating the estimated costs.

“While we are still in the early stages of evaluating the implications of hosting seven matches, we anticipate increased revenue opportunities from commercial partners and match day sales,” the email stated.

Further details will be disclosed by the province and the city once the planning process is completed, according to the representative.

Toronto Expenses

The CTF notes that the expenses for the FIFA event in Toronto are rising.

In 2022, Toronto projected the operational and capital costs associated with hosting the games to reach $290 million by 2026, according to a March 2022 city update. This amount has increased by 31 percent, to $380 million, according to a city update from February.

This is placing a heavy burden on taxpayers, remarked Mr. Binda in the CTF news release.

“Toronto taxpayers cannot bear the brunt of funding soccer games that are already nearly a hundred million dollars over budget,” he said. “This is unacceptable as taxpayers are being hit with increased taxes.”

A report dated Feb. 26 on Toronto’s city manager and World Cup Hosting 2026 executive director stated that the additional $90 million was attributed to the city securing a sixth match, instead of the originally anticipated five matches. The report also addressed updated information on vendor prices, safety and security requirements, and “inflationary uncertainty.”

To assist Toronto with the expenses, Ontario has pledged up to $97 million and has requested matching funds from the federal government.

The Epoch Times attempted to reach out to the City of Toronto but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.

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