-by Ayx Community Bus
With the World Cup fast approaching, former CRAB Park tent city residents in Vancouver are sounding the alarm about forced displacement and street-level policing. These concerns occur amidst the end of drug decriminalization in the city and the tainting of the drug supply with sedatives. Vancouver’s host committee has been warning international visitors about toxic drug supply and alcohol use, but Ayx Community Bus is also concerned about community members who have always been overpoliced in the city.
Read Ayx Community Bus’s statement below.
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Community Statement on FIFA 2026 and Human Rights in Vancouver from the Ayx Community Bus
As Vancouver prepares to host matches for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, unhoused people, drug users, and low-income communities — particularly in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) — are sounding the alarm.
We are former residents of CRAB Park and other tent cities and we are part of the Ayx Community Bus team. We all have strong roots in the community, lived or living experience of homelessness, and care deeply about our community.
In summary, this is how we feel about FIFA 2026:
- Despite a dense Human Rights Plan and public assurances that “no one will be displaced,” past experience tells a different story. Displacement is already starting, creating anxiety and uncertainty and making it difficult to trust officials.
- We are particularly concerned about lack of additional sheltering options (ie permanent, or daytime sheltering) and continuation of cruel daily displacement.
Expo 86 and the 2010 Olympics both resulted in large-scale displacement, increased policing, and long-term harm to people living in poverty. Another global event – the COVID pandemic – caused added harms and pressures in the DTES.
FIFA 2026 threatens to repeat these patterns.
We anticipate:
- Increased street-level enforcement in so-called “event zones”
- Tent removals, ticketing, and arrests framed as “public safety” and “beautification”
- Forced displacement into more hidden and unsafe spaces
- Daytime displacement and street sweeps especially during daytime FIFA activities
- Increased risk of fatal overdoses as people are pushed to use alone
- Escalated police and Ranger presence, heightening fear, violence, and trauma
- Unfair and inconsistent Bylaw or human-rights related decision-making on the ground, similar to current Bylaw enforcement
- Human rights in name only, and difficulty asserting human rights during large scale public events with added policing.
The re-criminalization of drug use ahead of FIFA makes these risks even more severe. It signals that public image is being prioritized over human life.
People living in SROs face added danger. Criminalizing public use forces people indoors, while weakened tenant protections allow intrusive “wellness checks” and evictions tied to drug use. This creates a direct pathway from surveillance to homelessness.
We are deeply concerned that policing, involuntary care, and enforcement powers will expand under the banner of FIFA—and remain long after the games are over.
We demand:
- No displacement, no street sweeps, and no enforcement escalations tied to FIFA
- Independent human rights monitoring with accessible public reporting
- Legal observers and protections in event zones
- Transparency about FIFA-related funding, contracts, and accountability mechanisms
- City to be transparent on the “beautification” policies, so people know exactly what to expect
If FIFA is to leave a legacy, it must include permanent, life-saving infrastructure:
- Affordable housing and community-run tiny home co-operatives on public land
- Any “athlete-village” type housing built for the games or fans should be afterwards used for the DTES and create lasting housing. It should be good quality and not “modulars”.
- Strong tenancy protections
- Permanent public washrooms and potable water
- Expanded, low-barrier safe consumption services
- Peer-led recovery and care spaces—not involuntary treatment
- Reduced policing and increased investment in community members
The Downtown Eastside is a historic, vibrant community. Attempts to erase it through displacement and criminalization are unacceptable.
FIFA must not come at the cost of our lives.