Official lays out conditions for Canmore’s involvement in Games
Canmore’s participation in a potential Calgary 2026 Winter Olympics hinges on financial contingencies worth millions of dollars, says a top town administrator.
As councillors prepare for a Tuesday vote on whether to approve a conditional recommendation supporting a 2026 Olympic Games bid, Canmore chief administrative officer Lisa de Soto said the town is seeking written confirmation of $3.2-million in essential services funding from the federal government.
“We have put forward that number as our essential services budget number,” she said, of the funding which administration is confident will be confirmed in writing in the coming weeks.
These essential services include enhanced services in areas such as snow removal, sidewalk clearing, garbage and recycling pickup, bylaw enforcement and police and fire response, among others.
The number was reached by using Whistler’s actual costs for the 2010 Olympic Games, escalated to 2018 dollars, as the proposed number for the services, de Soto said.
“We debated whether or not we delay our decision, or whether we put forth a conditional recommendation that at the end of the day … we’d proceed (with the bid),” she said.
These funds, however, aren’t the only thing de Soto said is imperative for the town to host a successful Games, as the town is in search of resort municipality status.
“We’ve been actively negotiating with the province, in conjunction with the town of Banff and the town of Jasper for the better part of the last decade, however, we haven’t been successful,” said de Soto, who also serves as Canmore’s representative within the Calgary 2026 Bid Corp.
“The town of Canmore sees the Olympics as a difference maker. We don’t believe the town can deliver on the Olympic promise with the funding tools of residential and commercial property taxes.
“We have been negotiating with the provincial government for the last several months to try to move them on the resort municipality status discussion.”
De Soto said if it was similar to what happened in B.C., Canmore would get to add one or two per cent to the hotel tax collected within the town, revenue which would be used to support services and programs needed to deliver on the Olympics.
According to Calgary 2026’s draft hosting plan, Canmore would host biathlon and cross-country skiing events to be held at the Canmore Nordic Centre — a facility built for the 1988 Olympics.
Should Canmore town council not support taking part in the Games, the Calgary 2026 bid as currently drafted could not move forward, forcing the bid corporation to seek alternative locations for Nordic events.