Experts on security and terrorism are calling for increased safety measures at Vancouver stadiums following Monday's deadly suicide bombing in Manchester. 

The shocking attack was committed as a crowd brimming with young people was exiting an Ariana Grande concert at Manchester Arena, killing 22 people and injuring dozens more.

It also left concerned citizens in cities around the world wondering whether the next terror attack could land closer to home, and what could potentially be done to prevent that level of bloodshed.

Andre Gerolymatos, director of Simon Fraser University's Terrorism, Risk and Security Studies program, said it's entirely possible ISIS could attempt to execute an attack in Vancouver.

"We are as much of a target as Manchester," he said.

That's partly because bigger cities that have already been hit with major attacks, such as London and Paris, are already enhancing their safety measures to brace for potential incidents in the future.

"As they develop better security measures, ISIS is going to look for softer targets. Vancouver is an ideal target for them," Gerolymatos said.

ISIS has claimed credit for this week's suicide bombing, but authorities have not confirmed the involvement of the notorious terror group. Gerolymatos said there is evidence the attack was at least coordinated, however.

"Because there's a bomb involved, and you have to make a bomb, it’s more than likely it's a conspiracy," he said.

The scene at Manchester Arena in the moments before the device went off was not unlike the scene at Vancouver's biggest stadiums, Rogers Arena and BC Place, before and after major events.

Security personnel at both already check guests for weapons at the door, but former Mountie Leo Knight said to prevent a similar terror attack, they need to widen their scope.

"What you've got to do is you've got to penetrate the crowds with plainclothes people who are trained in something called predictive profiling," said Knight, who now works as a security consultant.

Predictive profiling isn't the same as racial profiling, Knight added. It involves scanning crowds for certain behaviours and following up on red flags.

"You see a guy who's looking furtively around, for example, and he has a backpack, well that would get your attention and you would concentrate your focus on him to see what the behaviour actually is," Knight said.

"People going to an event or coming from an event, typically they're talking, they're laughing. They're not looking around, they're not checking out their environment, they're not looking for a police officer with a machine gun."

Gerolymatos agrees; people who commit acts of terror, particularly suicide attacks, don't typically blend in with the crowd.

"Somebody who's planning to blow themselves up, they're not going to look normal. They're going to look different, really intense, really in a trance. That's very important," he said.

Both experts said it's not just stadium security that should be paying closer attention – people can protect themselves and each other by being more situationally aware.

"We have a more relaxed attitude here because we haven't had terrorism, which again makes us a soft target. And no one's going to think about it next week, until something happens here," Gerolymatos said.

The next major event taking place in Vancouver is a Whitecaps game at BC Place on Tuesday night. Asked whether the stadium is taking additional precautions in light of Monday's attack, a spokesperson would only say the venue makes safety and security its top priorities, but that details are always kept confidential.

With a report from CTV Vancouver's Shannon Paterson