Good morning.

Team Canada makes its FIFA World Cup debut in Toronto in a game against Bosnia and Herzegovina on June 12. Six days later, the team plays its first game in Vancouver, against Qatar.

By then, organizers hope and expect Vancouver will be alive with excitement. The first game – Australia against Turkey – kicks off the tournament in this city June 13. The night before, Motley Crue, an American heavy metal act best known in the 1980s and early 1990s for hard-driving music and inebriated excess, will open the fan fest.

(Why open with an American heavy metal act? It’s unclear. But if you squint really hard, you can maybe see a connection: Legendary music producer and engineer Bob Rock was born in Victoria and has worked with the band on some of their most successful recordings.)

In the lead-up to June, British Columbians could be forgiven for feeling a bit of buyer’s remorse.

Vancouver’s estimated costs for hosting seven of the games have swelled from roughly $240-million in 2022 to $624-million, shared between all three levels of government, The Globe and Mail reported earlier this year.

Last week, Premier David Eby blasted the federal government because the province has not received a commitment from Ottawa over how much it will contribute to security costs for the games.

With just over two months to go, what are those costs? It appears British Columbia doesn’t have a ballpark tally yet. Eby said the province would make that number public once Vancouver police and the Mounties finalize their plans.

“We’re housing a lot of police officers, we are deploying a significant amount of additional policing,” he said. “It is our international reputation that is on the line, which is why the federal government has committed to being our partner in this work, but they haven’t cut the cheque and we can’t pay the rent with promises.”

Louis-Carl Brissette Lesage, a spokesperson for federal Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree, said Ottawa’s 2025 budget added $100-million to support RCMP, Canada Border Services Agency and other government departments “to help ensure the event is delivered safely and securely.”

The statement noted the federal government originally invested up to $220-million to support Toronto and Vancouver’s bid to host the games.

The organizers of Vancouver’s games have promised a fiscal update some time this spring.

The province estimates the tournament could draw 350,000 spectators to BC Place. So organizers are encouraging city residents to work from home or consider taking public transit, or to walk or cycle instead of driving on game days.

Vancouver has so far declined to release modelling it has done to estimate how the World Cup will affect traffic. Toronto estimates its already-clogged streets could experience up to 15 per cent more in traffic.

Vancouver city councillor Pete Fry said the public deserves to know how the tournament might affect congestion.

“It obviously will have impacts on daily operations of all sorts of commerce, doing business, commuting to and from work, or even just … getting around."

On the upside, anyone hoping to come to Vancouver to take in one of the games or simply soak up the “vibe,” might suddenly find themselves with options that weren’t available a few weeks ago.

FIFA organizers have begun cancelling thousands of their hotel-room bookings in Toronto, Vancouver and other host cities across North America, a move industry observers say is not uncommon during large events.

Late last month, the British Columbia Hotel Association said FIFA organizers have cancelled between 70 per cent and 80 per cent of their booked hotel rooms in Vancouver.

Those blocks of rooms accounted for roughly 15,000 hotel-room nights during the tournament period between June 11 and July 19. The freed-up rooms can now be booked by regular travellers, the association said.

Much inconvenience is ahead for non-soccer fans in Vancouver. But as Globe columnist Cathal Kelly writes, Canada has a low bar to cross to ensure the party is all worth it in the end.

No one expects Canada to win the cup. Winning a game or two would suffice.

“There is no point in playing host to something like this if it doesn’t come with basic expectations. The Canadian team doesn’t owe the country any specific result, but it does owe it at least two-and-a-half weeks of good times,” Kelly writes.

He adds if Canada beats Bosnia or Qatar, it will squeak into the knockout round.

“It is more than in Canada’s power to do. It should be approached as a minimum requirement. If it manages that and gets one stage farther than the U.S., this will have been more than money and time well spent. It’ll be a national coup."

This is the weekly British Columbia newsletter written by B.C. Editor Wendy Cox. If you’re reading this on the web, or it was forwarded to you from someone else, you can sign up for it and all Globe newsletters here.