Item - 2026.EX32.12

The Executive Committee:

1.  Referred Item EX32.12 to the City Manager and requested the City Manager, in consultation with the Deputy City Manager, Community and Emergency Services, to include in the report back on lessons learned from the FIFA World Cup 2026 contemplated in the FIFA World Cup 2026 Toronto Human Rights Action Plan and in follow-up to Item AU9.9, additional measures to support people experiencing homelessness in planning for future large events, steps to ensure future planning of major special events continues to promote the progressive realization of the right to housing, and measures to ensure continued compliance with human rights law.

At its meeting on May 29, 2026, the Housing Rights Advisory Committee considered Item HS11.5 and made recommendations to City Council.

Summary from the Housing Rights Advisory Committee:

When people sleeping outdoors are removed or displaced, they are disconnected from their support networks, caseworkers, access to vital services, and face increased safety risks, including overdose for those who use drugs. It is a deeply traumatizing and destabilizing experience and is, in part, why Council rightfully adopted the Interdivisional Protocol on Encampments (IDP).

As a Council Advisory Body mandated to provide advice to City Council on how it can uphold its Toronto Housing Charter commitment to progressively realize the right to adequate housing, it is important that we understand how the City is monitoring its compliance with the Toronto Housing Charter and IDP when it hosts large scale events, such as the upcoming 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Before entering into agreements for these events, the City should adopt trauma-informed, human rights-based guidelines to respond to and support people who are experiencing homelessness and residing in public spaces. These guidelines must be coordinated and consistently applied by City staff to ensure human rights are respected and upheld.

Hosting large scale international events is ultimately an opportunity to demonstrate how governments can uphold and respect the human rights of its residents, including the progressive realization of the right to adequate housing.