Security costs for Canada’s FIFA World Cup matches totalled roughly $232 million, making safety and security the largest single category of event-related spending.
Of that amount, the biggest component was $145 million allocated to Public Safety Canada, listed as “Transfers to other levels of government – support security activities” in a breakdown by the Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).
Liberal MP Adam van Koeverden hailed the event as historic for Canadian soccer fans and justified the costs associated with hosting it, according to Blacklock’s Reporter.
“It will inspire countless young Canadians. It will bring $1 billion to our national revenue,” van koeverden told the House of Commons on June 11, without explaining the revenue estimate.
The PBO breakdown shows that Ottawa provided $473.2 million of federal support, of which $231.7 million was listed as security-related costs. This included $145 million given to Public Safety Canada, $79 million to the RCMP, $4.3 million to the Canada Border Security Agency, and $3.4 million to the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority.
During a House of Commons committee hearing on May 28, Conservative MP Jeremy Patzer asked PBO director Govindadeva Bernier to explain Ottawa’s spending on the event.
“You said that there’s an estimated $128 million classified as capital expenditures. Should the rest of the funding for the FIFA World Cup, which is $473 million, be considered operational spending? How is that going to be classified?” Patzer asked.
Without giving a specific breakdown, Bernier said that much of the expenses would be for security.
“It will mostly be operational spending. A lot of it is security costs, obviously, because the RCMP is covering some of that. Public Safety, expedited visas, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency … a bunch of government departments are involved with some level of operating spending,” Bernier said.
Out of the $145 million allocated by Public Safety Canada to assist host cities with security-related costs, $100 million was allocated to the Province of British Columbia and $45 million to the City of Toronto.
B.C. Member of the Legislative Assembly Macklin McCall asked why there was no public breakdown of security spending, while speaking at the May 7 session of the B.C. Legislative Assembly.
“Vancouver is set to host seven matches. While early projections place total event costs in the range of approximately $240 million to $260 million, there remains a significant lack of transparency around one of the most critical components—safety and security,” he said.
“Historically, security represents one of the largest and most volatile cost drivers for events of this scale, yet there is no clear, defined public breakdown; no detailed risk adjustment estimate; and no clear contingency framework.”
Commenting on the higher security costs for Vancouver, Concordia University professor Moshe Lander said Vancouver’s security considerations include geography.
“Because it is right in the middle of downtown, think about what’s necessary to make sure that nothing happens to embarrass FIFA,” he said. “You need increasing security cordons of varying levels radiating out from BC Place. It’s going to look like you are trying to get into the Green Zone in Baghdad,” Lander said.
BMO Field (Toronto Stadium) presented less of a security challenge due to its location on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition, he said.
“So, creating those security cordons is so much cheaper. The potential disruption to subway systems, public transportation, if any of that were to happen, is going to happen miles away from the stadium itself,” he said.
The Canadian Press contributed to this report.
