FIFA World Cup Yields Modest Boost to Canadian Tourism
With the buzz from hosting World Cup matches now over for Toronto and Vancouver, new traveller numbers suggest the events delivered only a modest lift in visitors to the two cities last month.
The number of non-U.S. residents who entered the country through the Toronto Pearson and Vancouver International airports climbed by roughly 35,000 or 8.7 per cent last month, compared with June, 2025, according to preliminary Statistics Canada numbers.
The uptick in travel was more pronounced for people travelling from some of the 15 overseas countries that played in the 13 World Cup matches in Canada between June 12 and July 7.
Air arrivals from those countries in June climbed 32.5 per cent, or 29,500 compared with the same month the year before, Statscan said in its report. The largest increases came from Panama and Australia.
The numbers only cover last month, with traveller data for July due out mid-August. However, 10 of the 13 matches were held in June.
In the run-up to the World Cup, officials repeatedly predicted Toronto could receive as many as 300,000 out-of-town visitors – both foreign and domestic – as a result of the matches.
The number of U.S. and non-U.S. residents who entered Canada by vehicle did increase by 106,700 in June from the year before, or 7.2 per cent. But that was also in line with cross-border travel increases in the months before the World Cup.
Statscan’s traveller data tells a similarly underwhelming story to domestic spending data.
For instance, spending at Toronto restaurants and bars between June 12 to 26 climbed by only 3 per cent compared with the same period last year, according to digital payment processing company Moneris, though establishments did enjoy a 34-per-cent increase in spending by international visitors using foreign-issued cards.
While there was great anticipation among businesses for a boom from the World Cup, economists had kept their expectations in check.
In a report released ahead of the tournament, economists at Bank of Montreal estimated domestic spending and tourism would add a combined 0.1 percentage points to Canada’s quarterly annualized gross domestic product.
In an e-mail, Sal Guatieri, BMO’s senior economist, said the new travel data are in line with the bank’s forecast that the event would provide a “modest economic lift” to the country.
This article was first reported by The Globe and Mail
