DTES in 'a crisis' as the FIFA World Cup takes over Vancouver | Daily Hive

Kenneth Chan/Daily Hive

Critics are slamming the human rights action plan that Vancouver’s Host Committee for the FIFA World Cup released earlier this week.

The BC Poverty Reduction Coalition issued a response earlier today, saying that it “offers far too little, far too late.”

FIFA required all World Cup host cities to create and implement a Human Rights Action Plan. Vancouver first released its draft version on Feb. 19, 2026, and published the final version on May 25, 2026.

While Vancouver’s plan responded to concerns regarding how the City will support the unhoused population during the games, the coalition said they fall short.

The plan states that people experiencing unsheltered homelessness will continue to be allowed to erect temporary shelter overnight in parks, and that the City will maintain its services to people experiencing homelessness and housing precarity.

In addition, it includes funding for daytime shelter spaces for City-run locations in the Downtown Eastside and Downtown South on match days, with the intention to “provide respite space for people experiencing homelessness and housing precarity to watch the matches.”

These locations are the Carnegie Community Centre, Balmoral Hotel site outdoor activation, Oppenheimer Park Fieldhouse, The Gathering Place Community Centre, and the Evelyne Saller Centre.

The coalition acknowledged that they had called for “dignified, accessible daytime sheltering options,” but pointed out that these spaces will only have hours extended on match days, rather than the entire event.

“In other words, a handful of days during a weeks-long period of increased policing, tourist surges, and service disruption,” reads the response.

“Further, the plan offers scant details on how these spaces will be made accessible for people who are unhoused or precariously housed, as they are notoriously discriminated against in accessing City-run services.”

The coalition added that the commitment fails to meet the community’s needs without making the spaces available for the entire event period, staffing them with peer workers, having harm reduction supplies available, and ensuring they are surveillance-free.

‘A crisis situation’

Sarah Blythe, the executive director of the Overdose Prevention Society, told Daily Hive that the Downtown Eastside remains “in a crisis situation.” She hopes that hosting the FIFA World Cup doesn’t add to the community’s struggles, adding that most people in the DTES community can’t afford the tickets.

But she said that many people in the community like soccer, and one way to show support would be to set up a pitch for them to play.

“I think people having fun is always a good thing,” she said. “And get away from the idea that we need to sweep people off the streets from here to there.”

However, she said FIFA doesn’t matter as much to others.

“Some don’t really care because they’re in the middle of a crisis situation, and they’re homeless, and they have bigger problems,” she said, adding that there were eight drug overdoses yesterday.

“It’s hard to worry too much about what FIFA is doing — as long as it doesn’t have a major impact that’s negative on people,” she said.

Blythe pointed out that previous major events, like the Olympics, had left behind a legacy of things like housing, recreational and community facilities, and transportation infrastructure.

“[The] City’s s got to leverage that in order to make sure that there’s public benefits when these things come, or else you know, you wonder whether it’s worth taxpayers’ funding.”

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