B.C. won’t match Ontario’s World Cup last-call extension — largely because the games fit within existing hours

Shraddha Tripathy

5/26/20262 min read

Two Canadian provinces are hosting FIFA World Cup matches next month, but only one is broadly extending last call.

Ontario has announced a temporary provincewide change allowing licensed bars and restaurants to serve alcohol until 4 a.m. from June 11 to July 19 during the tournament. The province also said 27 LCBO stores will operate with extended hours, staying open until 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

British Columbia, however, is not making a similar across-the-board change.

Instead, B.C.’s Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch says its existing service hours are sufficient for the tournament because Vancouver’s World Cup matches do not run late enough locally to require a blanket extension. The province has published a World Cup liquor licensing guide that allows eligible businesses to apply for temporary extension-of-hours approvals and other temporary licensing changes tied to the event.

Time zones are driving the difference

The main reason for the different approaches appears to be scheduling.

Toronto will host six World Cup matches, including local kickoffs at 3 p.m., 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. Eastern time. But Ontario’s rationale is tied not just to Toronto-hosted games, but to the wider tournament schedule across North America, where some matches in other host cities will air much later for Ontario viewers because of time-zone differences.

Vancouver, by contrast, is hosting seven matches at BC Place, and the published schedule shows local kickoffs that fit within the province’s regular liquor service window. FIFA’s official fixture list and Vancouver host materials show the city’s games taking place between June 13 and July 7, with no provincewide scheduling issue that would force late-night alcohol service across B.C.

B.C. is taking a targeted approach instead

Rather than changing the rules for everyone, B.C. is allowing businesses to apply individually for temporary late service, expanded service areas and other event-related permissions through the LCRB. The province’s official World Cup licensing guide specifically lists temporary extension of hours as one of the available tools for eligible licensees.

That means Vancouver venues that expect heavier World Cup demand can still seek later service where appropriate, but the province is avoiding a universal policy shift.

In practice, Ontario is treating the World Cup as a provincewide late-night viewing event, while B.C. is treating it more as a localized hosting and licensing issue. The difference says less about one province being stricter than the other than it does about where the games fall on the clock.

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