Labor & Employment World Cup 2026: Two Host Nations, Two Approaches to Workforce Mobility

Kickoff: Meet Team Canada on Home Soil

Canada’s men’s national soccer team has undergone a clear evolution in both style of play and international reputation over the past decade. Historically viewed as hardworking but defensively oriented, Canada has transformed into a more dynamic, transition-focused team built on pace, athleticism, and attacking intent. The emergence of high-profile players competing in top European leagues has accelerated this shift, allowing Canada to play with greater confidence in possession while remaining dangerous on the counterattack. 

This shift in playing style has also reshaped Canada’s footballing identity. Where the program once struggled for consistent results and global visibility, recent qualification successes and competitive performances have elevated expectations. Canada is no longer seen as a peripheral participant but as a rising football nation with credible ambitions.

Fan culture around the Canadian national team has grown in parallel with its on-field success. Supporters’ groups are increasingly visible and organized, contributing to a lively and inclusive matchday atmosphere. Reflecting Canada’s broader multicultural fabric, the fan base brings together diverse football traditions and styles of support, creating an environment that is both globally influenced and distinctly Canadian. 

Like Canada, Mexico enters the tournament both as a host nation and with a team that carries national pride and heightened expectations.

Kickoff Continues: Meet Team Mexico on Home Soil

Mexico is now the first country to host three men’s FIFA World Cups, having previously hosted the tournament in 1970 and 1986 before welcoming the world back in 2026 alongside Canada and the United States. Despite 17 World Cup appearances and only five absences, one shadow still follows the team: Mexico has never reached the semifinals. However, this time the story started on a better foot. Prior to this tournament, Mexico had played seven opening matches without a single win. With its 2-0 victory over South Africa on June 11, 2026, however, the team is off to a much-improved start.

Mexico’s history includes icons like Rafael Márquez and Javier “Chicharito” Hernández, but today there’s no single global star wearing the green jersey. Still, this squad blends experience with fresh energy, and that mix has the fans believing this could be the year Mexico finally goes further.

Football occupies a unique place in Mexican culture. Few examples capture that passion better than México City Stadium (usually known as Estadio Azteca), which was packed with roughly 87,000 fans for the June 11 opener, even though resale tickets hit up to $10,000 USD – $174,000 MX pesos per seat. That contrast hits hard in a country where the daily minimum wage in the central region is just $315 MX pesos.¹ Likewise, Mexico has been a great host for national teams that have set up their training bases there for the duration of the tournament, such as Iraq in Tijuana or South Korea in Guadalajara. These cities offer a wide range of cultural and culinary experiences, not to mention populations who are generally kind and welcoming to visitors.

The Rulebook: Cross-Border Workforce Mobility and Immigration

Beyond their different football history, Canada and Mexico also offer distinct legal and regulatory environments for employers. Those differences are particularly evident in the area of workforce mobility, where each country has developed its own framework for managing the movement of talent across borders.

Canada

From a Canadian perspective, cross-border worker mobility is governed by a structured, rules-based immigration system designed to balance economic needs with domestic labour protections. Employers seeking to bring foreign workers into Canada must navigate a framework that distinguishes between various categories of temporary work authorization. Certain options are facilitated by international free trade agreements, such as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), which enables streamlined entry for specific classes of professionals. Others require a Labour Market Impact Assessment (LMIA), a process intended to confirm that hiring a foreign worker will not adversely affect opportunities for Canadian workers.

While transparent in principle, this system can be administratively complex in practice. Employers must carefully assess the appropriate work authorization category, ensure that the role aligns with regulatory definitions, and prepare detailed supporting documentation. Even where LMIA exemptions are available, eligibility criteria are applied rigorously, and processing timelines may vary. As a result, cross-border workforce planning, particularly for multinational organizations, requires advance coordination and a strong understanding of Canada’s immigration framework to minimize delays and operational disruption.

A key pathway within this framework is the intracompany transfer (ICT) category, which is widely used by multinational employers to deploy talent across borders. This LMIA-exempt category allows organizations to temporarily transfer executives, senior managers, and employees with specialized knowledge from a foreign affiliate to a Canadian entity. Although the ICT category offers a relatively efficient route for mobility, it is supported by detailed evidentiary requirements. Employers must demonstrate a qualifying corporate relationship between entities and establish the employee’s role, experience, and level of expertise. Canadian authorities closely scrutinize whether a position meets the applicable definitions, requiring clear, well-documented evidence.

Compliance obligations extend beyond entry into Canada. Employers must adhere to the terms set out in work permits, including job duties, compensation, and work location. Canadian regulators actively enforce these requirements through inspections and audits, with the authority to impose administrative penalties, restrict program access, and publicly list non-compliant employers. This enforcement environment has prompted many organizations to adopt more robust internal compliance systems to monitor and manage their foreign workforce.

Finally, Canada’s immigration regime operates alongside a decentralized employment law system, in which most workplace standards are governed at the provincial level. Employers must therefore ensure that foreign workers are treated in accordance with applicable provincial legislation relating to wages, hours of work, and occupational health and safety. Taken together, Canada’s approach reflects a cautious but well-regulated model of labour mobility, one that provides clear pathways for accessing global talent, while requiring careful attention to legal, procedural, and operational compliance.

Mexico

Like Canada, Mexico maintains a comprehensive legal framework governing foreign workers. However, recent workforce mobility discussions have increasingly centered on a different category of cross-border talent: remote workers and digital nomads.

In Mexico, cross-border labor mobility is currently a controversial issue within the country due to a phenomenon that has gained relevance over at least the last ten years: “digital nomads” who live and work in the country from home, often without paying taxes and in many cases without a work visa. Immigration to Mexico exploded with the onset of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed many jobs across sectors to become remote. In addition, the balance between cost and quality of life, proximity to countries like the United States and Canada, and minimal time zone differences, encouraged a wave of foreigners to settle permanently in Mexico.

According to data provided by the Mexican Government itself, living in Mexico City is more affordable in terms of basic needs, healthcare, mobility, education, and social life. Specifically, the average monthly rent is lower than many comparator cities (e.g., Lisbon, Portugal: $3,495 USD monthly; Madeira, Portugal: $1,992 USD monthly; Bangkok, Thailand: $1,886 USD monthly; Canggu, Bali: $1,872 USD monthly; as compared to Mexico City, Mexico: $1,823 USD monthly).² 

This should come as no surprise, since Mexico City is the largest metropolitan area in the Western Hemisphere, and given the country’s capital infrastructure and the variety of services, culture, and entertainment. Because of this, Mexico has become a major destination for people around the world who want to work from home. However, labor mobility has also brought negative effects to the country, such as gentrification and informal migration.

Informal migration impacts the Mexican economy, since the digital nomad does not contribute to the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS) or pay taxes such as Income Tax (ISR). The process any foreigner is supposed to follow when immigrating to Mexico, in broad terms, requires obtaining a work permit from the National Immigration Institute through either an employment-offer visa or a temporary resident visa with work authorization. Benefits must be agreed in writing in the individual employment contract with the employer, and by law they have the same rights and benefits as any Mexican employee. For employers, the only additional condition set by the Federal Labor Law is that each workplace must have at least 90% Mexican employees.

The legal framework for cross-border labor mobility in Mexico is regulated by the Political Constitution of the United Mexican States, the Federal Labor Law, the Migration Law, and internationally through the T-MEC (also known as the USMCA or CUSMA, as noted above)³ signed with Canada and the United States. Taken together, these offer extensive regulation for any foreigner who wants to work in the country. However, the notable challenge that government authorities are now facing is how to bring digital nomads into compliance with Mexican law.

On the Global Field: Closing Thoughts

On the pitch, Canada and Mexico will pursue the same objective to advance as far as possible in the tournament on home soil. Off the pitch, cross-border talent deployment, immigration compliance, and workforce planning remain critical issues for employers operating in Canada, Mexico, and beyond.