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The city has estimated it will cost $380 million for it to stage six matches for the global soccer tournament next summer. The province has agreed to provide up to $97 million of that, while the federal government has pledged about $104 million, and city is responsible for about $179 million. 

But according to  Tuesday from executive director of Toronto’s World Cup secretariat Sharon Bollenbach, the city and province disagree over how much Ontario will contribute in cash, and what it will provide in services. That’s important because the value of any services the province provides will be deducted from its $97-million allocation.   

While Queen’s Park had previously made clear its commitment would include the value of services that fall under its jurisdiction required to stage the event — such as increased policing, transportation and health care — the report stated that the province’s valuation of those items is “substantially higher than budgeted, and in some cases completely unbudgeted” in the city’s plans. 

The document listed more than $39-million worth of services that are in dispute, and which risk “increasing the city’s funding gap” if they’re drawn from the province’s contribution. 

“We understood the province would account for some of their costs in the $97 million they committed, but $40 million is a much larger clawback than expected, and for a broader range of services than expected,” Chow’s deputy chief of staff Shirven Rezvany said in a statement, citing higher than anticipated costs for health care as an example. 

He said the mayor plans to continue negotiations with the province “to free up those funds” or alternatively, will “start looking to cut $40 million from the FIFA budget as a result of the provincial funding change.”

It’s not clear what impact reducing funding for the games by more than 10 per cent would have, but it could make it harder for º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøto stage a successful tournament and live up to its contractual obligations to FIFA, soccer’s global governing body.   

Ford’s government rejected the idea that it’s trying to change its funding formula for the tournament. In a statement, Wesley Austin, press secretary to Ontario Minister of Sport Neil Lumsden, said the province has always been clear its contribution would include provincial services, and its total investment “remains unchanged.” 

“We are in constant contact with the city to ensure the successful delivery of this once-in-a-lifetime event. We continue with our good-faith negotiations with the City of º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøto finalize the allocation of our $97 million investment,” he said.

According to the city report, the service costs at issue include $15 million for the Ministry of Health, $14 million for the Ontario Provincial Police, $7 million for the Ministry of Transportation, and $2 million for the Ministry of Sport. A detailed description of each ministry’s costs listed increased transit capacity, the “beautification” of stations, lost transit revenue, surge capacity at hospitals, and $25,000 for events for dignitaries among the specific services subject to negotiation.

The report, which will be debated at council this week, said that staff will continue talks with the province to determine which services are required for the games, and to try to lower their overall costs. 

º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøwas already facing a $18-million shortfall for its portion of the World Cup budget, according to a separate report going to council. The municipality planned to make it up through a combination of private donations, merchandise sales, hospitality packages and other revenue sources. 

The 2026 World Cup is being co-hosted by 16 cities in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. The tournament is scheduled to kickoff June 11, 2026 in Mexico City, with the Canadian national team playing its opening game at Toronto’s BMO Field on June 12. 

The possibility of the cash-strapped municipality being left on the hook for more than its share of the budget has been a concern at city hall since before º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøagreed to take part, with council voting in 2018 to make signing up for the joint hosting bid conditional on receiving funding commitments from Queen’s Park and Ottawa. 

The city joined the bid without securing those commitments however, and when the other levels of government did announce funding last year, they fell short of Toronto’s share. That has left the municipality — which has comparatively limited financial resources and will receive only a sliver of direct taxation revenue from the World Cup — on the hook for almost half the budget, which has ballooned from an initial estimate of $45 million.

According to the staff report, º£½ÇÉçÇø¹ÙÍøhas finalized its funding agreement with the government of Canada, and unlike the provincial contribution, any federal services required will be “absorbed” by Ottawa and excluded from its grant amount.