In a joint statement issued on 12 June, Tourism Minister Rechie Valdez and Sport Secretary Adam van Koeverden said Canada is ready to receive "millions of visitors" for the FIFA World Cup 2026, which kicks off Canada-hosted matches in Toronto and Vancouver this week. The ministers highlighted hotel, restaurant and retail spending opportunities and pledged seamless border processing in coordination with the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). The federal task-force model—first used during last year’s Women’s Rugby World Cup—brings CBSA, IRCC, Public Safety and municipal agencies under a single operations room to monitor arrival surges and resolve bottlenecks in real time. Measures include dedicated charter-flight corridors at Toronto-Pearson and Vancouver-International, temporary eGate lanes for accredited personnel, and on-site mobile biometrics teams at team hotels. For corporates, the statement offers early intelligence on capacity constraints. Toronto expects daily arrivals to spike by 32 % during the first match week; Vancouver projects a 28 % jump between 13 June and 7 July. Organisations planning incentive travel or executive meetings in either city should lock in hotel blocks now and budget for surge-pricing on inter-city flights. The ministers encouraged visitors to download the ArriveCAN mobile tool—even though it is no longer mandatory—to speed up customs declarations, and urged non-visa-exempt travellers to apply for an electronic Travel Authorisation (eTA) well in advance. With global eyes on Canada’s performance as a co-host, successful facilitation could strengthen the country’s bid for future mega-events and reinforce its reputation as a safe, efficient destination for large-scale corporate gatherings.
Source: Cision (CNW)
