Toronto is hosting six FIFA World Cup 26™ matches from Friday, June 12 until Thursday, July 2 and the FIFA Fan Festival™ during various times until Sunday, July 19.
The City of Toronto, in co-ordination with transportation and public safety partners, has released its FIFA World Cup 2026™ Mobility Plan (.pdf), outlining how residents, business people and visitors will move through the city during the tournament, including measures to support accessible travel and minimize overall travel impacts.
The City is getting ready to keep people moving smoothly and safely. A co-ordinated team, including TTC, GO Transit, police and emergency service partners, will manage transportation and crowd movement in real time by:
- Using live monitoring of traffic, transit and crowd flow, the City will rapidly respond to issues and actively communicate travel updates throughout the tournament.
- Sharing real-time information on transit services, road closures and event impacts through City channels, TTC and Metrolinx updates and travel signage.
- Encouraging walking and cycling, adding extra support such as bike parking, Toronto Bike Share staffed bike valets and clearly marked walking routes, to make active travel easier and more convenient.
- Not providing general parking at event sites during the World Cup. That means no on?site parking at Toronto Stadium or the Fan Festival. Only match ticket-holders can book accessible parking, but only in advance. And, no public parking will be available in surrounding neighbourhoods, including Liberty Village and Fort York, where local access restrictions will be in place.
Plan extra time for travel — public transit is the best way to get around. TTC and GO Transit will provide more frequent service, especially for match days.
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GO Transit
UP Express
From Wednesday, June 10 until Sunday, July 5, here’s what you can expect:
- Service as frequent as every 15 minutes along the Lakeshore East and West lines.
- Extra focus on Toronto’s six match days, with even more frequent trips to and from Exhibition GO Station.
- Nearly 3,000 weekly GO trips, increasing service by almost 30 per cent.
- Later UP Express service to support late-night airport travel.
Toronto Transit Commission
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- Extra service along Line 1 Yonge - University and Line 2 Bloor - Danforth.
- Extra service along the 29 Dufferin and 929 Dufferin express routes between Dufferin Station and Dufferin Gate Loop.
- Five-minute, all-day service along the 504 King, 509 Harbourfront and 511 Bathurst routes.
- For match days, the TTC is closing Exhibition Loop to most passengers. Instead, most passengers will board or exit streetcars at a temporary terminal, “Fleet Hub”, at the intersection of Fleet Street with Strachan Avenue. Passengers with accessibility needs will still board or exit cars in Exhibition Loop.
- Fleet Street will temporarily become transit-only. The TTC will remove stops at Bathurst and Bastion Streets to speed service between Bathurst and Fleet Hub.
- Passengers aboard streetcars along the 504 King route can exit at King Street West and Bathurst Street and transfer to a southbound 511 Bathurst streetcar to Fleet Hub.
- To free up space in Dufferin Gate Loop for the extra buses along routes 29 and 929, streetcars along the 504B branch of the 504 King route will turn around along Shaw Street, Queen Street West and Dufferin Street.
- Streetcars along route 511 Bathurst will likely operate express, while buses drop off or pick up passengers at local stops on Bathurst Street.
- The City is installing RapidTO red transit-only lanes on Dufferin and Bathurst streets south of Bloor Street West for TTC buses and streetcars.
- The TTC says it will also introduce World Cup shuttle buses on match days, operating between key locations. The shuttles provide more support during peak periods.
- On-demand Wheel-Trans service will be available throughout the tournament. You can book trips as much as seven days in advance.
- The TTC says, “To guarantee a seamless experience for all riders, the TTC will increase signage across the system and deploy additional staff and customer service agents in key locations. Signage will also be geared towards international visitors, with FIFA-style pictograms. Safety and clear communications will be priorities for the TTC during this time. TTC staff will be embedded in the City of Toronto’s emergency operations and communications centres. [Passengers] can also expect to see an enhanced security presence on the TTC during the FIFA World Cup 2026TM. To ensure minimal disruptions to service on match days, the TTC will also be increasing its preventative maintenance across the system in the weeks leading up to the games. Response personnel will also be stationed in key locations, to quickly respond to any issues that may arise.”
Nuts and Bolts
The venue for the Fan Festival is Fort York National Historic Site and The Bentway.
During the Tournament, the City is temporarily renaming BMO Field as Toronto Stadium.
A third-party consultant developed the Mobility Plan. The consultant worked with the FIFA World Cup 2026 Toronto Secretariat, the City’s Transportation Services Division, the TTC, Metrolinx, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation, Toronto Police Service, Toronto Emergency Management, Toronto Parking Authority (including Bike Share Toronto), Greater Toronto Airports Authority and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to develop the plan.
The City’s FIFA World Cup 2026 Subcommittee considered the plan last Monday, March 30. The City’s Executive Committee will discuss the plan Wednesday, April 15, and City Council will review it during its meeting of Wednesday, April 22 to to Friday, April 24. The Host City Agreement requires the City to prepare a Mobility Plan and FIFA will be reviewing it.
The Government of Canada is supporting preparations for hosting matches of the FIFA World Cup 2026, including contributing toward upgrading Toronto Stadium. The Government of Ontario is supporting the infrastructure and logistics for Toronto’s matches and related events.
FIFA has released an economic impact assessment, estimating that FIFA World Cup 2026 could generate as much as $940 million in positive economic output for the Greater Toronto Area, including $520 million in Gross Domestic Product growth, $340 million in labour income and $25 million in government revenue. The tournament will also likely create more than 6,600 jobs before August 2026.
Sources:
- Toronto FIFA World Cup 26, here.
- City of Toronto - News release, “City of Toronto releases FIFA World Cup 2026™ Mobility Plan,” here.
- City of Toronto - News release, “City of Toronto announces Fort York and The Bentway for its FIFA Fan Festival™ location,”, here.
- TTC - News release, “The TTC is ready to get fans to FIFA World Cup 2026TM events,” here.
- TTC - “Take the TTC to FIFA World Cup 2026™,” here.
- GO Transit - “GO Transit Welcomes the World in 2026,” here.
