Authors: Brent Brandham Stephen Bortolon
Canadians have embraced the 2026 FIFA World Cup with typical enthusiasm — pitching in for volunteer roles at games at a higher rate than either Americans or Mexicans, according to the tournament officials.1
Event organizers in Toronto and Vancouver will have an army of 6,000 volunteers to call on when the tournament kicks off in June, forming part of what FIFA says is the World Cup's largest-ever volunteer contingent. However public-spirited volunteering may be, the deployment of volunteers at events comes with challenges that can't be managed with good intentions alone.
The World Cup may enjoy strong volunteer support, but it's building on a foundation that's less robust than desired. Most, if not all, sports event organizers rely on volunteers in some way, yet formal volunteer hours in Canada's sports sector have declined by 34% since 2018.2
As staffing pressures mount, organizations often ask fewer people to do more, inadvertently exposing themselves to a range of risks, from vetting failures to significant liability gaps. These gaps represent the critical "blind spots" in a risk framework — specifically, the hidden exposures where an organization's actual activities fall outside the exclusions of a standard insurance policy — and often remain invisible to leadership teams until a claim is filed.
Tackling these requires a thoughtful approach to risk management — coupled with appropriate and thorough sports event insurance coverage.
Key takeaways
- Canadians have been enthusiastic about volunteering to support World Cup matches, but there are indications of a more worrying underlying trend: Statistics show that sport and recreation associations lost 34% of volunteer hours between 2018 and 2023.2
- Sport organizations may hold legal responsibility for the actions of their volunteers, particularly in public-facing roles.
- Volunteers often aren't automatically covered under standard insurance policies, which means the event organizer can be left on the hook for medical claims and negligence suits.
The vetting challenge for sports events in Canada
Sports organizations everywhere are powered by an invisible engine: the volunteer. From community leagues to global tournaments, these hardworking individuals are the lifeblood of the industry.
Gallagher insures over 100 national and provincial sport organizations in Canada, with every one of them relying on volunteers in some capacity.
However, as noted, in recent years we've seen a decline in the hours people spend on sports volunteer work. One reason for this decline is the complexity of vetting procedures, according to Brent Brandham, national practice leader, sports and recreation at Gallagher Canada.
"The hurdle isn't just time — it's the process," said Brandham. "Feedback from various Canadian sport organizations indicates that the process to become a volunteer is perceived as too complicated.
"Insurance companies and risk management protocols require screening, vetting and mandated training. This results in volunteers feeling overwhelmed. If the process becomes too burdensome, they may choose to simply watch from home."
So how can an organization weed out the small minority of unsuitable individuals without deterring the many people who donate their time in good faith?
Public-facing roles and those involving working with vulnerable populations create heightened exposure to abuse, misconduct or safeguarding allegations. Even when such allegations are unproven, the result is often a costly legal defence and permanent reputational damage.
The key is to balance risk‑based screening for volunteer staffing at major events without creating unnecessary friction for event organizers. These screening practices can include the following:
- Role separation — By categorizing volunteers as high risk (direct youth contact, financial oversight) and low risk (logistics, facility setup), organizations can apply different levels of scrutiny. This targeted approach ensures that deep-dive background checks are reserved for critical roles, while excessive bureaucracy doesn't deter general volunteers.
- Rigorous screening model — Once the volunteer roles are decided, the sports organization initiates targeted recruitments. The organization thoroughly reviews applications and conducts interviews while verifying references and police records, if necessary. These efforts ultimately lead to the orientation and training of the selected candidates.
- Multilingual training — Training volunteers who don't share a common language requires a proper structure. Organizers need to nominate language‑group trainers, settle nationality‑eligibility early and publish clear protocols for volunteers.
Proportionate screening, clear supervision and documented orientation help establish reasonable care and can improve outcomes in the event of a claim.
Responsibility for volunteer actions in sports events
Screening matters because most major event organizers will be held accountable for the actions of the volunteers they employ, even if they're not on the payroll.
There have been instances of volunteer-related claims arising from negligence and failure to meet the expected standard of care. This exposure is most acute in public-facing roles — such as ushers, field marshals, equipment attendants and concession servers — where a volunteer's actions directly impact the participant or spectator experience. In these environments, an event organizer can be held liable for incidents ranging from slip-and-falls and damage to venue property to professional errors that result in significant third-party losses.
For the 2026 FIFA World Cup and other major sports events, these exposures are high stakes. With the passion surrounding international soccer, risks such as crowd control and property damage are heightened. If a volunteer is deemed to have acted negligently within the scope of their duties, the organization, not the individual, is the primary target of litigation.
Brandham notes, "In soccer environments, liquor liability and slip‑and‑fall exposures rise with crowd passion. Properly trained staff reduces both risk and liability."
Safeguarding volunteer staff at sports events
A significant risk that event organizers often overlook is the injury of volunteers themselves. There's a common misconception that volunteers are automatically included under standard corporate coverage. In most policies, they aren't included.
If a volunteer is injured or injures someone while performing their duties, the organizer may face direct medical expense claims, lawsuits alleging negligence and a subsequent blow to their reputation.
To ensure a safer environment for volunteers, sports event organizers can implement safe sport policies, such as Canada's Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS), to create a safe sporting experience.3
Training for volunteers: The operational solution
One of the most frequent causes of liability claims is a lack of training and risk awareness among volunteers. They come with varied levels of experience and limited budgets often lead to on-the-job learning rather than structured safety onboarding.
A recent report published by the Future of Sport in Canada Commission found that volunteer staffing, which forms the backbone of community and grassroots sports, often receives inconsistent, insufficient or fragmented training — especially in areas such as maltreatment prevention, ethical conduct and recognizing inappropriate behaviour.4 It recommended more emphasis on in-person training rather than online courses, and that the federal government take a leadership role in coordinating a more harmonized national landscape of safe sport training.
In the event of a legal claim, a lack of standardized training significantly weakens an event organizer's defence. Courts look for a "standard of care"; if the sporting event organizer can't prove that a volunteer was trained on specific safety protocols, their liability increases.
With the upcoming World Cup, training becomes even more complex. Brandham emphasizes the need for language-specific protocols. "Can we enlist a volunteer from Spain to train other Spanish-speaking volunteers? It's essential to identify individuals who can effectively communicate within their language groups."
Furthermore, for events involving alcohol, volunteers should complete a provincially recognized training program, such as Ontario's Smart Serve or British Columbia's Serving It Right. Municipalities may also require certification for Special Occasion Permit sports events. A failure to standardize this training across a diverse, international volunteer pool is an invitation to liquor liability claims.
Even strong safety practices can fall short if the insurance policy assumes a volunteer program that you don't actually run. "If a volunteer is accused of negligence or malfeasance and the event organizer is named in a lawsuit, having specific, sports-focused insurance coverage becomes the only line of defence for the organization's assets and reputation," says Brandham.
Tailoring volunteer insurance coverage with specialist advice
Every major event organizer needs a plan to align its volunteer management procedures with the insurance coverage it has in place for volunteers. This plan is where Gallagher's expertise becomes a strategic advantage.
We work with governing bodies to identify a manageable and effective set of strategies that mitigate exposure without creating a burdensome barrier to entry for the volunteer workforce. We provide the training and risk management tools needed to elevate your organization's standard of care, ensuring your volunteers are prepared for every scenario — from liquor liability to emergency medical response.
Our Gallagher Canada sports team integrates voluntary medical payments coverage as a standard feature within our specialized policies. This critical provision ensures that volunteers who sustain injuries during an event receive prompt medical assistance, allowing the organization to address medical expenses directly without the need for a formal liability claim or a legal process.
By partnering with a specialized broker who understands the nuances of the Canadian sporting events landscape, sporting organizations can ensure they aren't just buying a policy, but also are developing a resilient framework.
Are your current volunteer protocols aligned with your insurance coverage for sports events? Connect with our specialists today to conduct a comprehensive risk review and secure your organization's future on the global stage.
