StatCan figures show minor economic bump from FIFA World Cup soccer matches

Ottawa - The Canadian economy experienced a slight improvement from the FIFA World Cup in June, according to new figures released by Statistics Canada on Friday. The influx of tourists and fans for the international soccer competition brought about some tourism-related industries even experiencing a slight decline for the month, the statistics agency reported.

Accommodation services, such as hotels, saw a 0.7 percent decrease in June, while air transportation also contracted by 0.5 percent compared to May, the agency noted. Despite these fluctuations, other hospitality and tourism-related industries, including food services and drinking places, reported a modest 0.6 percent growth in June.

Canada hosted 13 World Cup soccer matches in Toronto and Vancouver throughout the tournament, with 10 of them occurring in June. However, sports economist Moshe Lander from Concordia University suggested that the economic benefits of hosting the World Cup were minimal, describing the notion of it being a "widespread economic win" as a "myth."

Lander explained that major cities like Toronto and Vancouver, already popular tourist destinations, often see visitors displaced by event-specific tourists, effectively cancelling each other out. Nevertheless, Lander acknowledged that hosting the World Cup could serve as a unifying event for Canadians, potentially bolstering national identity during times of political tension.

The spectator sports industry saw a 1.1 percent growth in June, driven by an 8.6 percent surge in radio and television broadcasting stations, the largest increase since the Olympics in February.