More than 300,000 out‑of‑town visitors are expected to arrive in Toronto during the World Cup.Fred Lum/The Globe and Mail
After thousands of fans were left stranded in Toronto’s downtown core following the Blue Jays’ extra-innings World Series loss last fall, the city is now vowing to keep crowds moving more smoothly during the World Cup.
Toronto’s transportation plan for the world’s largest soccer tournament – which is being co-hosted in Canada for the first time in June – includes street closures, parking restrictions and increased public transit to manage congestion.
More than 300,000 out‑of‑town visitors are expected to arrive in Toronto during the World Cup, with another 350,000 anticipated in Vancouver. Officials in both host cities are urging people to work from home or consider taking public transit, walk or cycle instead of driving on game days.
“This is a transit-first approach, focused on helping large numbers of people move around in a safe and efficient manner,” Sharon Bollenbach, executive director of Toronto’s FIFA World Cup 2026 host committee, said at a news conference Thursday.
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Toronto’s transit planning came under scrutiny in November, when the Blue Jays’ late-running World Series Game 7 caused severe congestion, traffic and bottlenecks downtown, including at Union Station, where fans waited hours for transit. Subways and GO trains did not extend their service, shutting down at around 1:30 a.m. The city also faced backlash for a social media post that said “transit won’t wait” shortly after midnight, while thousands of fans were still leaving the stadium.
Officials say they’ve learned lessons from that and other big sporting events, and are pledging to be ready in June. City staff have spent months co-ordinating with the Toronto Transit Commission, Metrolinx, the Ministry of Transportation, the Toronto Police Service and Toronto Emergency Management to ensure the disruptions to businesses and residents during the World Cup are manageable.
“One of the lessons I learned during the Pan Am Games was the importance of getting everyone aligned and working together on a common plan,” Andrew Posluns, Toronto’s new Chief Congestion Officer, told reporters.
To improve traffic flow, the city says vehicle-for-hire access will be limited to designated pick-up and drop-off areas outside restricted areas surrounding BMO Field (renamed Toronto Stadium for the tournament), including Exhibition Place and the FIFA Fan Festival site at Fort York National Historic Site and The Bentway. There will also be enhanced bicycle routes and increased temporary bike parking to encourage more people to cycle during the tournament.
GO Trains will be running every 15 minutes on the Lakeshore East and West lines, adding 3,000 trips a week – 30 per cent more than winter volumes – according to Sean Fuller, chief operating officer at Metrolinx,
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There will be increased streetcar frequency, extended TTC hours and improved signalling at intersections to ensure public transit moves more efficiently, said Josh Colle, the TTC’s chief strategy and customer experience officer. The transit commission will also deploy significant numbers of staff along transit routes to help move crowds along, part of an “all hands on deck” approach for the World Cup, he added.
The World Cup transportation plan, which still requires city council’s approval, means there will be no public parking available at Toronto Stadium, Exhibition Place or in surrounding neighbourhoods, including Liberty Village and Fort York, where local access restrictions will be in place.
The largest traffic volumes are expected during the tournament’s six game days, on June 12, June 17, June 20, June 23, June 26 and July 2. The Blue Jays, coincidentally, have home games on all of those dates except for July 2, something that will repeatedly test the city’s ability to move traffic from multiple large-scale sporting events at once.
Toronto Stadium is expected to host more than 45,000 soccer fans per game, following a 17,000-seat expansion completed at a cost of nearly $158-million to meet FIFA requirements. Up to 20,000 people a day are also expected to attend FIFA Fan Festival events at the Fort York National Historic Site and The Bentway over the course of the 22-day tournament.
Road closures and restrictions will affect parts of Strachan Avenue, Liberty Village, Lake Shore Boulevard West and Fort York Boulevard, as well as other residential streets, during the tournament.
Vancouver is also encouraging people to leave cars at home, and walk, cycle or take public transit to BC Place and the fan festival zone. The region’s public transit authority plans to provide an additional 600 bus trips per day, including dedicated bus routes for FIFA sites, more service throughout the downtown core and additional buses and drivers on standby to respond to crowd surges.
Vancouver has so far declined to release modelling it has done to estimate traffic impacts. City councillor Pete Fry said the public deserves to know how the tournament might affect congestion in the city.
“I think that’s important for Vancouverites to know what to expect,” Mr. Fry said in an interview. “It obviously will have impacts on daily operations of all sorts of commerce, doing business, commuting to and from work, or even just … getting around."