In 500 days, Toronto will be flooded with FIFA fans — but for now, TTC officials are planning how to repair the city’s transit infrastructure to accommodate the influx of tourists due in summer 2026.
The need to work around the FIFA international soccer championships means necessary repairs to the King streetcar line will be done in two stages, according to documents presented to the TTC's board meeting on Monday.
The repairs, though not entirely fulsome, are intended to extend the life of the TTC’s existing infrastructure.
The first stage of repairs are slated for completion this year so that the King streetcar is functional and able to ferry fans toward BMO Field for the soccer matches.
TTC officials said work will be done on the streetcar track at King and Church streets and King and Dufferin streets. The TTC also plans to replace tracks at Fleet and Bathurst streets, which will affect the Bathurst and Harbourfront streetcars.
"Although a life extension program will suffice to ensure a reliable FIFA 2026 service, it is anticipated that these assets will need to be replaced post-2026 and long before the completion of the Gardiner Expressway work," the document reads.
The Gardiner is currently undergoing a major, multi-year rehabilitation to ensure its longevity. Work on the Gardiner — including concrete, overpass and underpass repairs and road safety improvements — is expected to continue until 2030.
Not everyone is thrilled with the dual phase approach to repairing TTC assets and many are frustrated that the city’s transit infrastructure has long since been neglected.
"They'll make do with some patchwork in the short term and then come back later after FIFA," said transit blogger Steve Munro.
Munro called the TTC’s repair planning “inefficient” and said it would be preferable, if possible, to complete all maintenance work at once.
“It’s FIFA, FIFA, FIFA, we have to do everything for FIFA,” Munro lamented of the city’s approach.
TTC spokesperson Stuart Green confirmed to TorontoToday in an email that hosting the FIFA tournament has forced the TTC repairs to be done in two parts, so as not to disturb the flow of heavy traffic anticipated with the matches.
"We need to do some life extension work pre-2026 to get us through [the] World Cup, the[n] go back in between 2026 and 2030 to do long term upgrades,” Green wrote. "But as the Gardiner work is still scheduled to be ongoing, we need to get creative with the city on how we do that, given traffic conditions."
There will be six FIFA games played in Toronto beginning on June 12, with a final match scheduled for July 2.
The city's host agreement with FIFA is being kept partly secret. Earlier this year, Village Media obtained a copy under freedom of information laws, however, it was redacted in parts.
TorontoToday earlier reported FIFA requested “priority access to hospital care for players and MVPs” during the 2026 games. The request was mentioned in Ministry of Health briefing slides from January 2024.
Village Media has an appeal in progress with Ontario's Information and Privacy Commissioner to release an uncensored copy of the document on the grounds of public interest.
The City of Toronto has called for the whole document to be released but FIFA is objecting. The Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario has yet to make a decision.
