Auction for FIFA beavers in Toronto closes, Canadian motif statue garners highest bid

A beaver featuring a maple leaf pattern in fall colours, one of 52 hand-painted beaver statues representing different countries in the FIFA World Cup, is shown in this undated handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Handout - Old Town Toronto BIA (Mandatory Credit)

TORONTO — The bid to own one of the FIFA World Cup-themed beaver statues sprawled across an eastern downtown Toronto neighbourhood has officially closed.

The online auction for 50 beaver installations closed on Monday and received more than $170,000 in total bids.

The vibrant four-foot-tall beaver sculptures were part of an artistic scavenger hunt hosted by the Old Town Toronto Business Improvement Area, which ran between May 25 and Aug. 16.

The organization says it plans to split the proceeds equally between two charitable organizations: Toronto’s First Post Office and KidSport Ontario.

The auction site shows an anonymous bidder swept up the hand-painted Canadian motif beaver featuring fall-coloured maple leaves for $10,025, the highest bid of all the statues.

The fall-themed beaver was secretly added to the collection later on, placed discreetly across the street from the iconic Gooderham “Flatiron” building.

The Scottish beaver had the second-highest bid of $7,580, while the beaver representing Spain, which won the tournament this year, was sold for $3,200.

Old Town BIA displayed a total of 52 distinct sculptures across the historic neighbourhood near St. Lawrence Market and the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Forty-eight of the sculptures were a nod to the nations represented in the World Cup — each of them hand-painted by artists with roots or other connections to those participating countries.

Two others served to welcome the world, while one celebrated the neighbourhood itself. The design of the Canadian motif one was a reference to “the leaves of native maple species that can be found within Canada,” the auction website said.

Two beaver installations representing Canada and Old Town Toronto were not listed for sale in the auction.

The Canada beaver stood guard under a tree in Berczy Park, sporting classic red-and-black Canadian plaid, while the Old Town Toronto beaver, which captures Toronto’s skyline, was placed near the St. Lawrence Market.

More than 13,000 people played the Great Beaver Quest over almost 12 weeks, the BIA said.

Each statue had a QR code, which linked players to a scavenger hunt sign-up and participants earned points by completing challenges — and had a chance to win gift cards to local businesses.

The sculptures mimic similar public art projects, notably the Moose in the City project that saw Toronto host hundreds of life-size, decorated moose statues in 2000.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 25, 2026.

Ritika Dubey, The Canadian Press