Vancouver sees highest transit ridership in years for Canada's FIFA World Cup win | Daily Hive

Metro Vancouver sees highest public transit ridership in over six years during Canada's first-ever FIFA World Cup match win

Canadian fans marching next to SkyTrain's Main Street-Science World Station, walking along Quebec Street to BC Place Stadium on June 18, 2026, for the FIFA World Cup match between Canada and Qatar. (Kenneth Chan)

Metro Vancouver’s public transit network experienced its busiest day in more than six years as hundreds of thousands of fans travelled to viewing events for the FIFA World Cup’s Canada vs. Qatar match at BC Place Stadium, and the subsequent celebrations for the country’s historic first-ever match win in the men’s tournament.

According to preliminary figures released by TransLink, Thursday, June 18, generated the public transit authority’s highest system-wide ridership since early 2020, when the pandemic suddenly collapsed transportation demand.

Across the region’s public transit network yesterday, there were more than 1.36 million boardings and approximately 849,100 passenger trips, representing increases of 14.3 per cent and 18.2 per cent, respectively, over a typical Thursday. The system also recorded 461,200 unique customers, up 17.5 per cent.

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The figures show the central role public transit played in moving spectators to and from Vancouver’s first FIFA World Cup match involving the Canadian national team, while continuing to accommodate commuters and other everyday travel throughout Metro Vancouver.

SkyTrain (Canada, Expo, and Millennium lines) experienced the largest surge among the public transit modes, with 561,700 boardings — a 25 per cent increase over a typical weekday. Bus ridership increased to 769,600 boardings, up by 7.7 per cent.

SeaBus saw the biggest proportional jump, with 26,600 boardings, a 66 per cent increase from its typical weekday usage, reflecting heavy travel between the North Shore and Downtown Vancouver. But ridership on the West Coast Express commuter rail — a service driven by office workers in Vancouver’s city centre — declined by 19.3 per cent to 6,800 boardings.

skytrain main street science world station fifa world cup vancouver canada june 18 2026

Canadian fans marching next to SkyTrain’s Main Street-Science World Station, walking along Quebec Street to BC Place Stadium on June 18, 2026, for the FIFA World Cup match between Canada and Qatar. (TransLink)

The public transit authority noted that ridership growth was particularly pronounced in Richmond, Burnaby, and the Tri-Cities.

Excluding SkyTrain stations in Downtown Vancouver and the two stations served by the No. 11 FIFA Fan Festival Express shuttle bus route to the PNE fairgrounds in Hastings Park, Bridgeport Station recorded the largest increase, with 13,100 boardings — a 37 per cent jump above a typical day.

Brentwood Town Centre Station followed with 9,400 boardings, up by 34.6 per cent, while Oakridge-41st Avenue Station saw 8,700 boardings, representing a 30.5 per cent increase.

Burquitlam Station and Patterson Station each recorded 28.6 per cent growth, followed by Gilmore Station at 27.9 per cent, Inlet Centre Station at 27.8 per cent, Lincoln Station at 26.1 per cent, Lafarge Lake-Douglas Station at 25.9 per cent, and Lansdowne Station at 25.3 per cent.

Scott Road Station recorded a 21.8 per cent increase, King George Station was up 13.1 per cent, and YVR-Airport Station experienced a 23.6 per cent increase, which is driven by the surge of visitors travelling to the region for the tournament.

The record ridership came amid Canada’s historic 2-1 victory over Qatar at BC Place Stadium, the first FIFA World Cup win in the history of the Canadian men’s national team. This 2026 tournament is also only the third time Canada has competed in the FIFA World Cup, following 1986 Mexico and 2022 Qatar.

The win sparked large celebrations throughout the Downtown Vancouver peninsula, with thousands of fans gathering on Granville Street and surrounding areas after the final whistle, as well as at the FIFA Fan Festival at the PNE and other live match broadcast viewing events around the region.

Hours ahead of the match’s kickoff, thousands of people dressed in Canada’s colours descended on Quebec Street just south of Main Street-Science World Station for a mass procession towards the stadium.

Peak Vancouver.

Peak Canada.

This is beyond surreal. 🇨🇦♥️⚽ #FIFAWorldCup #WeAre26 #WeAreVancouver pic.twitter.com/UxaqAZDEHF

— Kenneth Chan (@iamkennethchan) June 19, 2026

TransLink had previously highlighted that on Saturday, June 13, when Vancouver hosted its first FIFA World Cup match between Australia and Turkey, it recorded the highest ridership at SkyTrain stations serving BC Place Stadium for any Saturday stadium event since the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Earlier this week, TransLink also shared with Daily Hive Urbanized that over the first four days of the fan festival’s operations, nearly 19,000 boardings were recorded on the No. 11 express bus route, which only makes one stop along its entire six-km-long route, with an end-to-end travel time of under 15 minutes. It runs on Renfrew Street between the Expo Line’s 29th Avenue Station and the PNE’s Pacific Coliseum, with one stop at the Millennium Line’s Renfrew Station.

The No. 11 only operates on the 28 select days the FIFA Fan Festival is open during the 39-day tournament period, with service starting two hours before the fan festival gates open each day and continuing until two hours after closing. It is one of the best ways to get to the fan festival, if not the best, with an end-to-end travel time of about 15 minutes and frequencies of five minutes or better using a fleet of high-capacity, 60-foot-long, three-door articulated buses.

TransLink has been provided with about $22 million from the City of Vancouver’s FIFA Host Committee budget to increase capacity and frequencies to ensure people move efficiently and reliably on the public transit system during the five-week-long tournament period. This includes running SkyTrain at peak hour frequencies before, during, and after the seven Vancouver matches, running more frequent SeaBus service, and extending service hours later into the overnight hours for SkyTrain and SeaBus during BC Place Stadium matches that begin later in the evening. This budget also covers new wayfinding signage, dressings, and other decorations.

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