Ontario's extended last call is one factor raising safety and productivity concerns among HR leaders as the big tournament arrives
Canadian employers are bracing for a six-week workforce management challenge that goes well beyond the usual disruption of a major sporting event. With the FIFA World Cup 2026 – running from June 11 to July 19 – nearly here, HR leaders are raising concerns about employee safety, absenteeism, and the bottom line that go far deeper than a scheduling headache.
New research from workforce management firm UKG, based on a survey of 8,000 employees across eight countries, projects that Canadian workplaces could absorb an estimated $479 million in lost productivity over the tournament. Globally, the figure reaches at least $17 billion, including $11.7 billion in the United States alone. The data paints a clear picture of what HR teams can expect: 37 per cent of employees globally plan to adjust their work schedules during the tournament, while 27 per cent said they plan to come in late, leave early, or skip a workday entirely. Another 11 per cent admitted they would show up to work hung over.
For leaders managing hourly and trades workforces, those numbers carry risks that extend well beyond lost output. And in Ontario, where Toronto is one of two Canadian cities hosting actual World Cup games, the provincial government is extending last call in licensed bars and restaurants to 4 a.m. for the duration of the tournament – two hours later than usual – while allowing liquor stores to remain open until 11 p.m. The government of British Columbia, where Vancouver is also hosting games, declined to make a similar move.
When fun becomes a safety issue
Diane Slater, Chief Human Resources Officer at Mississauga, Ont.-based Stephenson's Rental Services,said her concern centres less on office productivity and more on what happens when fatigued employees show up to physically hazardous jobs.
“I work in the type of industry where I'm genuinely concerned,” says Slater. “We’re largely an hourly workforce that frequently talks about going home and drinking, so I struggle to understand why [Ontario’s last call extension] is a good idea, other than for the economy, because bars will do really well.”
Stephenson's Rental Services operates in the construction equipment space – a sector where the workforce extends into crane operators, excavator drivers, and loading crews working with heavy equipment.
“It's one thing if you're taking the TTC down to an office job and sitting at a desk,” says Slater. “It's a whole other story if you're tired and going into a workplace where you can die if you do something dumb.”
She notes that the loading and unloading onto trucks alone is dangerous work. “It's construction workers who are driving huge excavators and climbing up into cranes, so if they only got three hours of sleep and they're still partially intoxicated, it’s a concern,” she says.
Proactive communication, not ‘fun police’
Slater acknowledges the tension HR leaders face with an event like the World Cup: no one wants to be perceived killing the mood during a once-in-a-generation event on home soil. But she believes that tension is precisely why proactive communication matters.
“You don't want to be the fun police, which is our reputation regardless of what we do in HR,” she says. “You’re allowed to use your vacation days, but if you're just going to call in sick and let your teammates down, we need to address that ahead of time – it should probably be in our weekly toolbox talk leading up to the tournament.”
Slater suggest HR can lead with celebration and follow with a clear reminder about safety and attendance expectations. “Especially in our environment, we would always lead with health and safety,” she says. “If you think you're going to be up late watching a game or celebrating, book the vacation day now – and don't come to work exhausted and hung over, because you're going to hurt yourself.”
Data-first scheduling with a sport-oriented workforce
Not every Toronto-area employer is approaching the tournament the same way. Nilsa Buehner, Director of Human Resources at The Mississaugua Golf and Country Club, says her team has opted for a data-led response to the question of scheduling – one that starts with understanding how many employees actually plan to follow the games before making any operational adjustments.
"We are going to be polling our demographic to get a sense of how many are intending to participate in the celebrations,” says Buehner. “We make the assumption that a large contingent of our workforce is interested in the sport, but we could very well be wrong in that assumption. From there we'll be able to gather data on better scheduling.”
The approach reflects a broader principle Buehner says should guide HR strategy during major events: communicate expectations clearly, support employees where possible, and avoid assuming the worst.
"The decisions that they make outside of work, as long as they don't impact or spill into the workforce, are fine by us," she said. "We're not here to monitor and govern everything they do outside the workplace, but we're definitely going to be putting out communication to ask them to act responsibly and make sure that any decisions they make in wanting to participate don’t interfere with their commitment to the club – and, of course, offering any support they might need ahead of it.”
Mitigating absenteeism and presenteeism
Both HR leaders agreed on one key item: the time to act is before the opening whistle, not after.
Employers in host cities like Toronto – where attendance expectations and proactive workforce communication are especially critical during major events – face a particularly compressed window to put frameworks in place before tournament fever takes hold. That means publishing clear attendance policies, encouraging employees to book vacation days rather than call in sick, and giving managers the language they need to have those conversations in a supportive, rather than punitive, tone, according to Buehler.
For organizations with physically demanding workforces, the Ontario government's last call extension adds urgency to those conversations. While framed as an economic driver, the real costs of unplanned absenteeism and presenteeism in Canadian workplaces – particularly in safety-sensitive workplaces – are something HR leaders have to manage during the six-week tournament.
Leaning into the cultural energy while staying on message
Both Slater and Buehner say that leaning into the cultural energy of the event – rather than fighting it – is the most effective long-term strategy, provided safety and performance expectations are set early and clearly. Slater points to how forward-thinking HR teams approach high-profile sporting moments as a model: get ahead of the conversation, use positive framing, and give employees a legitimate path to participate.
“It's about starting off with celebration – this is so exciting, we know that a lot of you are gearing up to watch, and so are we as a leadership team,” says Slater. “But just a quick reminder – especially in our environment – health and safety is our most important thing.”
For Buehner, the goal is to create an environment where employees feel seen and supported, not surveilled.
“If an organization is committed to protecting its workforce and wants the staff to be committed to them, they have to have these conversations,” she says. “They're important ones to have and they can't be discounted.”
