Vancouver brings in accommodation tax for 2026 FIFA World Cup
Canada: An additional 2.5 per cent tax is being applied on short-term accommodations in Vancouver to fund the costs of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will be co-hosted by Canada, the United States of America, and Mexico.
The city’s major events municipal and regional district tax will now charge $2.50 on every $100 for short-term lodgings, including hotel rooms and accommodations booked through platforms such as Airbnb or Vrbo. The new rules came into effect on 1 February.
No exceptions will be made for the tax, according the Ministry of Finance, with travellers booking lower-priced rooms paying less than others reserving higher-priced rooms.
The new tax will be in place for seven years until 2030 and is predicted to raise around $230 million in revenue to help pay for planning, staging and hosting FIFA World Cup matches in the city in three years’ time. B.C. Finance Minister Katrine Conroy revealed that Whistler had funded its involvement in the 2010 Winter Olympics in a similar way.
In addition to an existing three per cent tax on accommodations, the extra charge is designed to raise revenue for local tourism marketing and programmes. The province says that there will be safeguards in place to ensure that the amount received goes into event costs and not anywhere else.
Destination B.C. estimates that hosting World Cup matches in Vancouver could generate more than $1 billion in fresh revenue for the local tourism sector by 2031 and increase the number of visitors by 269,000 people in the same time.
There will be 16 host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which will feature 48 national teams for the first time. As well as Vancouver, the cities include: Toronto; San Francisco; Atlanta; Los Angeles; Houston; Miami; Seattle; Dallas; New York / New Jersey; Boston; Philadelphia; Kansas City; Mexico City; Monterrey; and Guadalajara.
