Home » Dean's Award for Research Excellence (DARE) » DARE for Students » DARE Research Project Postings » World Cup Crowd Management Experiences: Canada
World Cup Crowd Management Experiences: Canada
Faculty Member's Name: Ali Asgary
Faculty Member's Email Address: asgary@yorku.ca
Department/School: School of Administrative Studies
Project Title: World Cup Crowd Management Experiences: Canada
Description of Research Project
The 2026 FIFA World Cup will be hosted in North America, with several matches taking place in Canada, including approximately six games at BMO Field in Toronto. This will be the first time Canada hosts an event of this scale, bringing unprecedented crowd sizes and complexities. Effective crowd management is therefore a critical component of hosting the World Cup, encompassing strategies to ensure public safety and security and to prevent crowd-related emergencies or disasters.
This research project aims to examine, document, and model crowd management preparedness, planning, and implementation in Canada, with a specific focus on the 2026 World Cup matches in Toronto. The study will investigate crowd management from multiple perspectives, including preparedness planning by public agencies, private organizations, and non-governmental organizations; crowd management strategies in sport venues, surrounding public spaces, and transit corridors used by spectators; and the implementation of these strategies during events through field observation and on-site assessment.
In particular, the project seeks to collect empirical data to support the simulation of crowd dynamics in selected public spaces and to develop evidence-based crowd management exercises for future training and educational purposes.
Undergraduate Student Responsibilities
The student will be responsible for primary and secondary data collection, analysis, and drafting reports and crowd emergency exercise/ simulation documents.
Qualifications Required
- Strong verbal and written communication skills
- Experience or coursework in data collection and research methods
- Background or familiarity with crowd and event management concepts
- Demonstrated interest in field observation and on-site data collection
- Academic and professional writing skills
- Interest in both qualitative and quantitative research approaches
- Background in GIS, simulation, and modelling considered an asset
Interested in this project posting?
Submit your resumé and unique cover letter for this projects to the faculty supervisor. Deadline: February 6, 2026 by 4 p.m.