Will partner cities pay their share?
Canmore and Whistler could both play host to events for a possible Calgary Winter Olympics, but as cost-sharing negotiations continue the potential price tag for the mountain communities remains a question mark.
The plan released by the Calgary 2026 bid corporation this week proposes Olympic events spread across Calgary, Canmore, Whistler, B.C., and possibly Edmonton.
Calgary city council voted Tuesday to continue with a planned November plebiscite on hosting the 2026 Winter Olympics, with three councillors opposed to moving ahead.
Lisa de Soto, chief administrative officer with the Town of Canmore, said Canmore has been participating in the bid corporation’s multiparty agreement negotiations with various levels of government.
“We’ve been a party to all of that, and those negotiations are ongoing and not concluded, so with regards to cost-share, there’s nothing I can provide that’s firm or a commitment at this point in time,” de Soto said.
She said Canmore will be looking at what its costs would be without the Olympics and how hosting the Games could help the town to complete community projects at a reduced cost.
“We’re certainly expecting to contribute, but looking at the opportunity to get government funding where previously that would have been uncertain,” she said.
That includes the possibility of repurposing an athletes’ village in Canmore to more than double the town’s current inventory of affordable housing, de Soto said.
“Affordable housing is our No. 1 concern in Canmore,” she said. “We have an affordable housing corporation that has an objective of building over 1,000 affordable housing units.
“Our current inventory sits at around 200.”
Under the draft plan, the Canmore Nordic Centre would host biathlon and cross-country skiing events. Canmore would also host medal ceremonies for the Para ly mpic s—a possibility the town is excited by, de Soto said.
“From a community accessibility perspective, we have priorities around mobility and pedestrian connectivity, and seeing the Paralympics and some of the opportunities we would have to really make our community accessible from an all-users perspective is an exciting opportunity that would advance our priority of an accessible community,” de Soto said.
Canmore town council is scheduled to vote Nov. 6 on pursuing a bid, just days ahead of the Nov. 13 plebiscite in Calgary.
“The intent of doing that in advance of the Calgary plebiscite is to truly say that Canmore has autonomy in its decision-making, and so we won’t be influenced by the Calgary-area decisions,” de Soto added.
The Olympic bid proposal includes plans for two new sports venues and refurbishments to an existing 11 facilities. The public portion of the cost amounts to $3 billion, to be divided among municipal, provincial and federal governments.
The Alberta government is ex- pected to announce its portion of the cost-sharing agreement at least 30 days before the November vote.
Whistler Mayor Nancy Wilhelm Morden said while “high-level discussions” have taken place on a possible 2026 bid, the B.C. municipality doesn’t yet know any specific details such as costs.
“Now that they’re getting down to the nuts and bolts, we anticipate that there will be a presentation to our council and then we will start a process here,” she said.
Wilhelm-Morden said Whistler will need to explore the costs in detail and consult community members. “There’s been no consultations so far, so there are some pretty big and important steps that have to be taken still,” she said.
The plan identifies Whistler Olympic Park as the location for ski jumping and Nordic combined events.
The Calgary 2026 plan does not yet identify a venue for curling events, but CEO Mary Moran said this week a number of sites are under discussion, including locations in Edmonton.