The 2026 World Cup drew huge crowds of Canadians to a handful of Vancouver and Toronto neighbourhoods, but left some districts with fewer visitors than usual.
asserted
Cup → draw → visitors
New data from Toronto-based analytics company Environics Analytics, provided exclusively to The Globe and Mail, show how unevenly foot traffic was distributed in each city, bolstering reports from businesses that the tournament’s economic boost did not reach every commercial district even as governments touted broader long-term benefits.
“It was a bit of a non-event,” said Neil Wyles, executive director of Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant Business Improvement Association.
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Wyles → base → Association
Its members include the many retail shops, bars and restaurants in the trendy neighbourhood just a few kilometres from BC Place stadium, where matches were held.
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matches → include → stadium
“On game days, you might have seen a bit of a bump, but over the longer arc of the months no one was knocking it out of the park in Mount Pleasant.”
uncertain
one → see → Pleasant
Canada, the United States and Mexico co-hosted the largest-ever edition of the World Cup between June 11 and July 19.
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co → co → June
Vancouver hosted seven matches and Toronto six.
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Toronto → host → matches
In Vancouver, Yaletown saw the biggest boon, with average daily visits during the World Cup period up 18.2 per cent from the weeks before the tournament.
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Yaletown → see → tournament
On days that Vancouver hosted matches, visits surged 63.3 per cent.
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visits → host → matches
Yet nearby neighbourhoods saw traffic move in the opposite direction.
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traffic → see → direction
Compared with pretournament levels, average daily visits fell 12.7 per cent in Strathcona, 9.4 per cent in Mount Pleasant and 3.2 per cent in the West End during the World Cup.
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visits → compare → Cup
Environics Analytics’ MobileScapes database estimates foot traffic using cellular network signals with personal identifiers removed and calibrated to represent the Canadian population aged 15 and older
The estimates do not capture international visitors or other foot traffic originating from outside Canada’s resident population, an important limitation during a tournament that drew soccer fans from around the world.
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that → estimate → world
The exclusion may therefore understate the tournament’s impact in areas such as downtown Vancouver, an entertainment district where measured visits rose just 3.8 per cent overall and 8 per cent on game days, despite it being packed throughout the tournament.
uncertain
it → understate → tournament
Mr. Wyles said the findings for Mount Pleasant are not surprising, given that Vancouver’s World Cup festivities were concentrated in the downtown core.
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festivities → say → core
Warnings of traffic congestion and street closures also deterred some visitors, as they did when Vancouver hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics, he said.
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he → deter → Olympics
As a BIA representing a neighbourhood with residential, commercial and light industrial properties – but no hotels – the association focused on appealing to locals, Mr. Wyles said.
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Wyles → represent → locals
He also suspects that the high cost of hotels downtown during the games kept out-of-town visitors from taking more time to explore the broader city.
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cost → suspect → city
Meanwhile, Yaletown’s visitor surge was not left to chance.
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surge → leave → chance
Sarah Vallely, executive director of that neighbourhood’s BIA, said the group actively sought to parlay its proximity to BC Place into longer visits by installing mini soccer pitches, murals and other programming.
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group → say → pitches
Local businesses also leaned into the effort with watch parties and transformed patio spaces.
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businesses → lean → spaces
“The biggest takeaway for us is probably that with these major events, you have to embrace them,” Ms. Vallely said.
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Vallely → have → them
“There will always be disruption, but if you give people a reason to spend time in the neighbourhood rather than just walk through it on their way to the stadium, there can be a really meaningful benefit for local businesses.”
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you → give → businesses
Toronto saw a similar concentration of activity.
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Toronto → see → activity
Average daily visits to Liberty Village, adjacent to BMO Field at Exhibition Place, increased by 9.7 per cent during the tournament and 57.9 per cent on days the city hosted matches at the stadium.
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city → increase → stadium
CityPlace and Fort York, which was home to the city’s official fan festival, recorded a 13.1 per cent increase across the tournament and a 37.6 per cent increase on game days.
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which → record → days
But just north, Little Portugal saw average daily visits decline by 10.6 per cent across the tournament and 3 per cent on game days, despite being one of Toronto’s most popular destination neighbourhoods and a gathering point for Portugal supporters.
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visits → see → supporters
Giovanny Restrepo, a spokesperson for the Little Portugal Toronto BIA, said benefits were uneven within the neighbourhood, with increased activity at the more than 18 bars, restaurants and venues that showed matches or hosted World Cup programming, but not at other businesses.
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that → say → businesses
Similar to Mr. Wyles in Vancouver, Mr. Restrepo said messaging from the city and the media that emphasized road closures, overcrowding and difficulties getting downtown – while legitimate considerations – may have discouraged people from visiting the area.
uncertain
that → say → area
Recently implemented parking restrictions are also believed to have negatively impacted businesses, he said.
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he → implement → businesses
For future mega-events, Mr. Restrepo said better co-ordination and communication with the city and other stakeholders could create a broader economic benefit.
uncertain
ordination → say → benefit
“Visitors should be given clear information about how to get around, where they can park, which neighbourhoods remain accessible and, importantly, reasons to actually explore the city’s many neighbourhoods and local businesses.”
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neighbourhoods → give → neighbourhoods
Beyond visitor numbers, Environics Analytics also profiled the types of communities that people came from by linking its mobility data to its PRIZM segmentation system, which groups Canadian neighbourhoods based on shared demographic, socio-economic and lifestyle characteristics.
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which → profile → characteristics
In both cities, the biggest increases came from multicultural communities outside the neighbourhoods where World Cup festivities were concentrated, according to the PRIZM data.
uncertain
festivities → come → data
In Vancouver, the groups that contributed most to Yaletown’s surge in visitors were associated with neighbourhoods with large Asian populations, including financially secure families on the urban fringe, younger and middle-aged South Asian families and younger, university-educated singles and couples of Asian descent.
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that → contribute → descent
In Toronto, much of the increased traffic into Liberty Village was associated with culturally diverse, middle-income neighbourhoods, including urban-fringe communities with younger and middle-aged families.
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much → increase → families
The Globe and Mail reported in July that, despite weeks of packed bars and restaurants and persistent fears of hotel-room shortages, data suggest the marquee soccer tournament did not amount to a major economic boost.
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tournament → report → boost
Figures from digital payment processing giant Moneris, which handles one in three transactions in Canada, show that from June 12 to 26 total spending at Toronto bars and restaurants was up just 3 per cent over the same period last year.
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spending → handle → period
Spending by international visitors, however – measured using foreign-issued credit and debit cards – was up 34 per cent at those same bars and restaurants.
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Spending → measure → bars
Total spending at Vancouver restaurants and bars, and total foreign spending, each increased by 6 per cent.
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each → increase → cent
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