CoStar News examined each FIFA World Cup host city and what the tournament June 11-July 19 could mean for local infrastructure, real estate, tourism and economic development long before the first soccer match is played. Find links to all the markets here.
The FIFA World Cup is returning to North America for the first time in 32 years, and it's coming to Canada for the first time with games in Toronto and Vancouver.
Toronto, Canada’s largest city, is renovating BMO Field, where Toronto F.C. of Major League Soccer plays, by increasing seating capacity to 45,000 from about 30,000 to accommodate scores of spectators who are expected to descend upon the city for what is regarded as the world’s most-watched sporting event.
Toronto is also the country's main economic engine, particularly for financial and professional services, and one of North America’s fastest-growing tech hubs. Several Fortune 500 companies have their headquarters in Toronto, including the Royal Bank of Canada, Toronto Dominion Bank, Manulife Financial, Rogers Communications, Thomson Reuters, Agnico Eagle Mines, Constellation Software and Restaurant Brands International.
The skyline
Toronto's skyline is getting new additions, including the Pinnacle SkyTower, a mixed-use structure that just became Canada’s tallest building. The city, and by extension its skyline, experienced a building boom a year into the Great Recession, powered by record-low borrowing costs and an investor-driven bull market. Toronto has 108 buildings that are at least 150 metres tall, or about 492 feet, and has among the world’s fastest-growing skylines.
Mississauga, a suburb west of Toronto, has matured into one of Canada’s 10 largest cities and, as such, its silhouetted skyline is visible from across the metropolitan region. It is highlighted by Absolute World Towers, a twin skyscraper complex in the Absolute City Centre development in downtown Mississauga. Moreover, the CN Tower, a global landmark, makes Toronto’s skyline among the most recognizable in the world.
The city
Officially founded as the town of York in 1793, the city served as the capital of Upper Canada. Toronto officially surpassed Montreal as Canada’s largest city in the 1976 Census, following the exodus of business and capital from the Quebecois metropolis to Ontario’s capital city.
As of 2026, Toronto's population is estimated at over 3.3 million within the city proper, while the greater Toronto area has surpassed 7 million residents.
Economic impact
The 2026 FIFA World Cup could garner the city up to $940 million, or about 685 U.S. dollars, in economic output for the Greater Toronto Area; however, other estimates place the economic impact as high as $1.3 billion for the province of Ontario. The event itself is anticipated to create more than 6,600 jobs regionwide.
On the hospitality side, Toronto has 183 hotels containing nearly 36,000 rooms, and is a major contributor to the city’s economy. Moreover, there’s a slew of short-term rentals in the city owned by the investor class.
Toronto will host six World Cup matches starting with a match on June 12 featuring Canada’s Men’s National Team. The city is also hosting a Round of 32 match on July 2.
Canada’s men’s team has not been a frequent participant in the sport’s most prestigious tournament: In 2022, it returned to the World Cup for only the second time following a 36-year hiatus dating to 1986. Canada has lost all six matches across both tournaments, but did score its first tournament goal four years ago.
Toronto FC has won the MLS Cup once, defeating the Seattle Sounders 2-0 in the 2017 MLS Cup final.
The venue
BMO Field will be home to all six World Cup matches in Toronto. In addition to hosting Toronto F.C., it’s also home to the Toronto Argonauts of the Canadian Football League.
The stadium officially opened on April 8, 2007, with a seating capacity of 25,000. In addition to the major World Cup upgrade, BMO Field was previously renovated between 2014 and 2016. It's owned by the city of Toronto and managed by Maple Leafs Sports & Entertainment, owner of the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs and the NBA's Toronto Raptors.
Real Estate
Coming out of the pandemic, Toronto experienced an unprecedented housing rush. With nearly 11,000 home sales in March 2022, the Multiple Listings Service Home Price Index Composition benchmark recorded a 34.8% year-over-year increase in the aggregate price of a home across the GTA. Fast forward four years and economic pressures have tamped down homebuying activity in the low- and high-rise segments, with the average price of a Toronto-area home falling to $1.02 million on just over 5,000 home sales.
The region’s multifamily market has changed from a chronic housing shortage to one underscored by pronounced affordability woes, according to CoStar data. Greater Toronto’s post-pandemic population boom vastly outstripped housing availability, pushing up rental prices to historic highs that also outstripped wage growth. Rents in greater Toronto peaked at a five-year high of 10.6%, however, it has since attenuated 2.6%. The city’s vacancy rate, at 4%, is 90 basis points lower than the national average.
Toronto’s office market has stabilized in its downtown financial district, although vacancy is expected to increase throughout the metropolitan region, albeit temporarily, CoStar market data shows. Demand is anticipated to keep rising, as more government and business sectors enact back-to-office measures. The city’s office vacancy rate is 10.1% — higher than its 10-year average of 7.6% but below the three-year average of 10.5%. CoStar said this is indicative of the market reaching an inflection point.
Greater Toronto’s industrial market has begun stabilizing after a prolonged period of heavy speculative deliveries amid paltry demand. The market's vacancy has declined by 50 basis points from a recent peak to 4%, with availability at 6.2%. The market recorded some 8 million square feet of net absorption — or move-ins minus move-outs — in greater Toronto over the last 12 months, well-above the three-year average of 4.5 million square feet, but considerably below the 10-year average of 8.4 million square feet.
Office construction remains strong, with the 13.2 million square feet regionwide representing 1.5% of total inventory. Rental growth has decelerated from a post-pandemic high of 14.8% to a mere 0.4% today.
Retail in the GTA has performed well following a decade of exceptionally high population growth that outstripped the supply of new inventory. Between 2016 and 2024, Greater Toronto’s population grew by 9% while retail supply increased by 3.6%, thereby putting upward pressure on rents. The retail vacancy rate in Greater Toronto is 2.3%, with the availability rate declining by 70 basis points year-over-year to 1.8%.
However, the confluence of decelerating population growth and elevated economic uncertainty poses a headwind that threatens to undermine otherwise robust market conditions. Moreover, the shuttering of Hudson’s Bay Co. stores across Canada has flooded the market with large-format anchor space, putting upward pressure on vacancy rates, CoStar said.