Vancouver shines for Team Canada’s 1st game at BC Place: ‘This was the best’
Vancouver residents and World Cup visitors are celebrating Team Canada’s win at BC Place on Thursday and the fun and festivities in the city.
“Yesterday was amazing. I mean, as everybody knows, big win for Canada, six-nothing, BC Place completely sold out, 54,000 fans,” Don Chapman, Deputy Chief of the Vancouver Police Department, told Global News.
“We had our fan fest pretty much at a sellout as well; I think at one point with 21,000 fans on site there, another 40,000 for the totality of the game. The Granville Entertainment District was busy as well as viewing sites all around the city. All in all, great day, great deployment. I think everybody had a great time.”
Chapman said about 1,200 officers were deployed across the city throughout the day.
He said there were only three people ejected from BC Place and no arrests.
Chapman said there are going to be some small deployment changes inside BC Place for Canada’s Wednesday game, but other than that, no major changes to policing are expected.
Victoria residents Dallas Nicholls and Nahoa Kahakauwila attended the game at BC Place and said the atmosphere was electric.
“I’ve never felt so patriotic,” Nicholls said.
“It was pretty cool that we did the march before and the streets were just flooded with red and everyone was just chanting. Like, the energy was just insane and inside the stadium was tenfold more. It was insane.”
Kahakauwila said it was a huge win for Team Canada and Canadians.
“I think this is a huge win, huge historical moment for us and I’m happy that we were able to witness history,” he said.
Nicholls said it is a sign that other teams shouldn’t count Canada out.
“Don’t underestimate us just because maybe we’re not a European country; Canada’s still got it,” he said.
“We’re hosting this tournament and I don’t know, I have a lot of confidence in us and I hope we just make it far in this tournament. And yeah, don’t underestimate a six-nothing win was a staple.”
Bars and restaurants playing the game were packed with fans.
“It was absolute insanity,” Murray Saunders, general manager of the Shark Club, said.
“It was one of the best energies I’ve experienced here. I’ve experienced a lot of things here. You know, Olympic watching, Canada versus U.S., Grey Cup, this was the best.”
He said they served more than 1,200 customers, with 650 of those before the 3 p.m. kick-off.
They served more than 1,500 beers, 1,000 cocktails, 1,000 meals and 200 burgers.
“Other big game days won’t quite do those numbers. You know, the biggest thing we had here was the Grey Cup, but this match was right up there with them,” Saunders added.
He said it’s busy for the other World Cup games as well, not just the Canada games.
“I said to all of my staff, you need to walk up to the table and say welcome to Vancouver, because we’re seeing people from all over the globe right now,” Saunders said.
“They’re supporting their country.”
He said they will be opening earlier for Canada’s Wednesday game to make sure everyone gets in before the game starts.
Jesse Adcock, host committee lead and chief delivery officer for the City of Vancouver, said there was one ticket left at the end of the day for the Fan Fest at the PNE.
“We had over 40,000 people come through the Fan Fest yesterday,” she said. “So it was beyond our wildest dreams, you know? We’re so happy that people are enjoying it, that it’s resonating with them.”
Adcock added that it was also a learning opportunity.
“We have scaled the city now to a point that we are in uncharted territory, so we are every day checking in across agencies, across groups, across levels of government, you know, because we’re all working together to deliver this event. This is not just one singular host committee,” she said.
And it appears that people heeded the message to take transit to the game and the downtown core.
Transit riders from across Metro Vancouver packed buses, SkyTrain cars and SeaBus routes Thursday.
TransLink said June 18 brought the highest ridership across its system since early 2020 and according to preliminary figures released Friday, there were more than 1.36 million boardings across the transit system on match day, along with approximately 849,100 trips.
That is an 18 per cent increase in boardings compared with what TransLink said would be expected on a typical Thursday.
The agency said the numbers show fans travelled from across the region to support Canada, with especially strong ridership growth in Richmond, Burnaby and the Tri-Cities.
Ridership was also up in Surrey, with Scott Road Station seeing a 21.8 per cent increase and King George Station recording a 13.1 per cent jump.
YVR-Airport Station saw ridership rise 23.6 per cent, a sign, TransLink said, of visitors continuing to arrive in the region for the tournament.
TransLink said the ridership increase reflects both the excitement around the tournament and the role transit is playing in moving fans, workers and visitors during major events.
The agency said the increase was not limited to downtown Vancouver or stations connected to FIFA Fan Festival shuttles. It said preliminary data showed strong growth at stations across the region, suggesting fans were coming in from multiple communities rather than just the city core.
The numbers also offer an early look at how Metro Vancouver’s transit network is handling World Cup demand.
Vancouver is one of 16 host cities for the 2026 tournament, which is being held across Canada, the United States and Mexico. The city is hosting seven matches, including five group-stage games and two knockout-round games.
For TransLink, Thursday’s ridership was a major test of how the system can absorb large crowds while still serving regular commuters.
The agency said transit continued to help people get to work, school and other destinations while also moving thousands of soccer fans to and from the match.
TransLink said a boarding is counted every time someone gets on a transit vehicle, while a trip represents a full journey from start to finish, including transfers.
The agency said its comparison to a typical Thursday is based on projected ridership had the World Cup match not been taking place. That projection is calculated using recent ridership patterns and ridership from the same day last year.
The figures released on Friday are preliminary and could change as estimates are finalized.
globalnews
