Toronto police overtime cost taxpayers nearly $45M during the World Cup, new figures show. Was it money well spent? - Toronto Star

Virtually all Toronto police members who staffed the World Cup were 'callbacks' and paid at premium rates, the force says.

Toronto police ahead of Canada’s home opener at the FIFA World Cup in June.

Toronto police spent nearly $45 million on overtime pay for its members to staff the 2026 FIFA World Cup — costs that were incurred over just seven weeks, but which rivalled the force’s non-tournament overtime budget for the entire year.

The Toronto Police Service (TPS) says the expenditures were planned in advance and the force doesn’t expect to exceed its World Cup budget. But critics say the overtime costs raise fresh questions about the public dollars Toronto spent to co-host the global sporting event.

According to information the Star obtained through a freedom of information request, as of last month the TPS estimated it spent $43.5 million on “premium pay” for tournament operations between May 30 and July 19.

That’s equal to almost two-thirds of the amount the force allocated for non-tournament premium pay for all of 2026, which was about $70 million.