Canada makes major guarantees, including tax exemptions to host FIFA 2026 games

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Canada makes major guarantees, including tax exemptions to host FIFA 2026 games The exemption includes all provincial and municipal taxes as well as federal ones and applies to FIFA and its partners during the event Photo by KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP/Getty Images

Article content OTTAWA — The Canadian government has signed onto tax breaks, security costs and eased travel rules in order to have the FIFA World Cup come to Canada in 2026.

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Article content Canada won a joint bid with the U.S. and Mexico for the 2026 event, which will see the majority of games played in the U.S., but 10 games will be played in Canada with Toronto and Edmonton the potential host cities. Montreal was a candidate city, but pulled out earlier this year over cost concerns. We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Canada makes major guarantees, including tax exemptions to host FIFA 2026 games Back to video FIFA has a list of “government guarantees,” which it expects from host nations. Canadian government officials signed off on those demands in 2018, according to documents obtained through access to information. Among FIFA’s requirements from host countries is that the organization pay no tax during the two-month event. More On This Topic Here's looking at you, Vancouver: Bid official says Canadian cities will regret World Cup absence in 2026 The 2026 World Cup is coming to Canada: FIFA votes in favour of North American bid over Morocco

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Article content “The FIFA World Cup is a major global sporting event raising attention to the host country and the other co-host countries and providing the ability for significant financial investments in sports and public infrastructure,” reads a briefing note on the exemption. The exemption includes provincial and municipal taxes as well as federal ones and applies to FIFA and its partners during the event. FIFA operates on a four-year financial cycle to correspond to the World Cup events, and in the last four year cycle, ending in 2018, it reported approximately $5.6 billion in revenues. “The FIFA World Cup represents an event of national importance and public interest which justifies the grant of a tax exemption in connection with the competition,” reads the briefing note.

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Article content The government also had to pledge to ensure visa free access to the country during the games for FIFA officials and members of national teams. It also has to ensure no legal restrictions were in place that would interfere with the ability to sell or market anything to fans. “With this respect, in particular no legal restrictions or prohibitions shall apply regarding the advertising and consumption of goods and services in the stadiums and other sites used for the competition.” Photo by LARS HAGBERG / AFP/Getty Images That clause was used during the World Cup in Brazil, which at the time banned the sale of alcohol during soccer matches, to force Brazilian authorities to allow beer to be sold. The Canadian government will also be on the hook for all security costs around the event. The 2014 games in Brazil came with approximately US$800 million in security costs.

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Article content Canada is only allotted ten games during the 2026 event, which should lower the cost, but the security guarantee goes well beyond just the actual matches. “Security operations are not limited to stadiums but extend to any further locations used for the competition across the entire host country, such as training sites, team base camps, official hotels, accreditation centres, media and other event centres, international broadcast centres, FIFA fan fest sites, airports,” reads the report. Sarah-Anne LaCombe, a spokesperson for Canadian Heritage, said the exact costs for these guarantees are not yet known. “The costing for the bid guarantees will not be finalized until FIFA makes its final host city selections,” she said in an email.

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Article content FIFA toured Edmonton and Toronto’s facilities in November as part of the process to decide which cities will host, which games during the event. LaCombe said the guarantees Canada has given for the games are part of the bargain for hosting major sporting events. “We are happy to have been chosen as a host country alongside Mexico and the United States for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The assurances provided by the Government of Canada were provided in response to the bid guarantees requested by FIFA, and are similar to those provided for past bids and major sports events,” she said. “The Government of Canada also committed up to $4.3 million to support Canada Soccer’s efforts in the further development of plans for the event.” Twitter: RyanTumilty

Email: rtumilty@postmedia.com

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