Published: January 26, 2026 at 8:50PM EST
Accommodations are expected to be very expensive and hard to come by during the month-long period when Vancouver hosts seven FIFA World Cup matches in June and July.
But it won’t just be tourists and FIFA workers who need a place to stay. Out-of-town patients who are getting treatment at Vancouver General and St Paul’s hospitals will also need accommodation.
The advocacy group Housing is Healthcare has been sounding the alarm about the lack of a government plan for months.
“I think what’s going to happen is that there will be patients navigating an optionless system. So there’s going to be nowhere to stay, and there’s going to be nobody within government accountable for this,” said the group’s founder Jacqueline Podewils.
One out-of-town patient who’s concerned about the availability and cost of accommodations is Vernon mother of three Leah Becker. The 53-year-old has terminal interstitial lung disease, and is currently undergoing testing in order to be added to the waitlist for a potentially life-extending double lung transplant at Vancouver General Hospital.
“I have to be prepared to have at least three months at the bare minimum somewhere to stay, to live when that happens, when I get the call,” said Becker.
And she wonders what that will mean for her if that calls comes when Vancouver is hosting the World Cup.
“Where am I going to stay? How much am I going to have to pay? What is that going to look like?” she said in an interview from her home in the Okanagan. “I have heard that the vacancy rate is zero, and that the cost for anything is astronomical.”
In an email, the health ministry said: “While there isn’t a specific program in place to provide extra support during the seven spread out game days, there are a number of existing programs available to patients and their families.”
But Podewils said that put too much of a burden on patients.
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