Toronto councillors push for more oversight on rising cost of hosting FIFA World Cup

The rising cost to host six FIFA World Cup soccer games in Toronto will come before city councillors this week, with some focused on preventing the price tag from rising further.

Council will dig into a report that shows the cost to taxpayers to host the 2026 matches has jumped by $80 million. Late last month, city staff said that the price shot up because of a variety of factors including inflation, security costs and the city being awarded six games instead of five as initially expected. 

Coun. Paula Fletcher supported the bid to host World Cup but says she's concerned about the cost escalation and that this might not be the end of it. In 2018, council was told the price to host the games would be between $30 to $45 million. In 2023, the price was estimated at $300 million. It now sits at $380 million.

"I feel pretty frustrated," she said. "I did not realize when I supported it that there was this many strings attached financially and that any shortfall would be the city's."

Toronto expects to see an economic boost of roughly $392 million in GDP and an additional $456 million for Ontario, according to the report. It also expects the games to create around 3,500 local jobs.

But with the FIFA agreement signed, there may be little councillors can do to change the deal except push to increase revenues from the games and constrain costs, Fletcher said. 

"That's not taking away from any of the excitement of all of the soccer fans in the city of Toronto," she said. "It's a great night out. But the morning after, it's going to be pretty hard."

Earlier this month, Mayor Olivia Chow said she is trying to make the best of a difficult financial deal for the city. She expressed frustration that she has been "saddled" with the costs by past council decisions and has little recourse. 

"Will I want to see $380 million being spent on it? No," she said. "Would I have signed the deal had… none of the provincial and the federal government contributions been locked down? No."

The province has committed up to $97 million to pay for the games. The federal government has not made a firm commitment yet but city staff say they expect Ottawa to pay for at least 35 per cent of the total cost.

The cost escalations come less than a month after city council approved the largest property tax increase in decades to help address a $1.8 billion structural budget deficit.

Deputy Mayor Mike Colle supports hosting the games but is also concerned about potential cost increases over the next two years. Councillors need more oversight of the remaining negotiations, he said.

"It's been very remote from council," he said of the FIFA deal. "So, I know there's a few of us that are very interested about getting more hands on with this thing, given the impact financially."

Last month, Chow's executive committee passed a motion to achieve that improved transparency. It will be considered by council this week.