As Vancouver prepares to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup, questions are being raised about what will happen to people living on the streets.
Seattle, which is also hosting, has rolled out an emergency plan to move some encampments and expand shelter and housing space ahead of the tournament.
“It has particular time limits, because in about three months our city is about to welcome a quarter of a million people for the World Cup,” Kate Brunette Kreuzer, the Seattle mayor’s chief of staff, said at a council meeting.
“It is really important that when we are hosting so many visitors to our city, we have places for those folks to go.”
But in Vancouver, details are limited.
Global News spoke to Brian Allard, who is living on a grate outside Vancouver’s premier FIFA venue.
His home is within the two-kilometre beautification zone around BC Place, meaning he is supposed to be moved during the tournament.
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But he said he is not going anywhere.
“I just don’t like being inside with other people,” Allard said.
Boston Pizza, located at the Stadium SkyTrain station, is hoping to welcome hundreds of thousands of soccer fans during the tournament, but says that Allard’s presence since last September has not been good for business.
Staff have called the city, police and firefighters at least 100 times to check on him, they said.
“To stay on the middle of the road, we just don’t know what’s happening,” Ismet Yetisen, the owner and operator, said. “If something happen to him, we will feel guilty as well.”
One Vancouver councillor told Global News that the city is looking at extending daytime drop-in shelter hours.
“If the province is going to or willing to come forward with additional funding for additional shelter spaces, we are certainly ready to work with them to get those shelter spaces open,” Peter Meiszner, ABC Vancouver councillor, said.
Meiszner added that the city’s plan does not include relocating homeless people.
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