Toronto’s big gamble: The city is putting aside millions for World Cup 2026 -- despite a cash crunch

The city’s plan assumes that the provincial and federal governments will each contribute a third of the total cost, even though neither has agreed to it.

Thestar.com
Jan. 24, 2023
Matt Elliott

I’ve been playing a game as I comb through the documents released over the last few weeks as part of Toronto city hall’s budget process. Let’s call it Finding FIFA.

As games go, I’m pretty darn good at this one, even if I was never any good at soccer. There are, it turns out, multiple references to the international soccer organization buried within hundreds of pages of budget PDFs.

By my count, Toronto’s draft budget, set to be considered by Mayor John Tory and city council over the weeks ahead, devotes approximately $20.4 million in 2023 toward planning and security costs related to the city’s plans to host World Cup matches in 2026.

And that’s just the beginning. The $2.4 million budgeted this year to establish a “FIFA World Cup Secretariat,” for example, is set to grow in future budgets to around $30 million in annual spending by 2025.

The budget also starts work on some of the major infrastructure projects deemed necessary for the FIFA hosting effort. This year’s budget for Exhibition Place includes $6.8 million in capital work to renovate BMO Field, a city-owned facility, while the budget for the parks division includes $10.8 million to start work on building training sites at Sunnybrook Park and Centennial Park available to participating teams in 2026.

In both cases, there’s a lot more spending to come. The BMO Field renovation is projected to total approximately $66.6 million. The training sites are projected to cost $45 million.

In total, the last estimate for hosting part of the 2026 World Cup in Toronto -- the city is preparing to host five matches, but that number has yet to be officially confirmed --is currently $300 million.

That the city has started to budget for these FIFA costs is especially notable because this entire hosting plan has, thus far, been developed under the assumption that the provincial and federal governments would each contribute a third of the total cost. But neither Premier Doug Ford or Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have committed funds yet.
The city, in other words, is gambling. Once this budget is approved, Toronto will begin to spend big money on this FIFA plan in the hopes that the federal and provincial governments will come forward with money later.

It’s a big gamble included in a budget that already includes a lot of gambling. The city is also assuming Ford and Trudeau will provide more than $1 billion to help balance the operating budget, and is banking heavily on a Ford government promise to replace $2.3 billion in forgone revenue related to legislated changes to development charges. Any World Cup funding will need to come on top of those requests. Otherwise, this FIFA project will take away from needed city spending in areas like housing and transit.

But even if Ford and Trudeau come through with all the requested money, there are serious questions about whether Toronto will be in any shape to host an estimated 174,000 overnight visitors in 2026. Sure, BMO Field might be nicely renovated, but can anyone suggest with confidence that the TTC will be running enough service to get fans to games? That team buses won’t have to deal with crumbling roads and unfilled potholes? That garbage bins won’t be overflowing?

The good news, I guess, is that Tory seems to see the World Cup as something of a mayoral swan song. It’s set to occur just a few months before the end of his third and -- he promises -- final mayoral term.

As a result, he’s definitely taken a personal interest in the plans.

After new “strong mayor” legislation gave Tory the power to directly hire and fire senior staff positions at city hall, he delegated much of that power to the city manager, but he opted to retain direct control of the new position of the executive director responsible for FIFA World Cup hosting 2026. Last Friday, the city revealed that Tory had selected Sharon Bollenbach, currently the CEO of Special Olympics Canada, for the role. He’s also personally met with MLSE executives twice so far to discuss World Cup planning, according to city hall’s lobbyist registry.

I hope this is a sign that Tory understands the stakes. Because if he’s not successful in securing the assumed provincial and federal funds, and if he doesn’t make serious improvements to Toronto’s infrastructure and public services before 2026, this World Cup will make for a lousy note for Tory to leave on: with a city unfit to welcome to the world, and a hell of a hefty bill.