Games bid boss unruffled by missing info on funding
No cost-sharing numbers from province with plebiscite just over month away
Just days from a provincial deadline to release details on a costsharing agreement for a possible 2026 Olympic Games, the head of Calgary’s bid corporation said she’s not concerned with the timing.
On Thursday, the provincial government pledged $500,000 to WinSport to improve facilities at Canada Olympic Park.
But th eND P has yet to provide details on its contribution to an Olympic hosting plan as it promised to do at least 30 days ahead of Calgary’s Nov. 13 public vote on the Olympics.
“Obviously it’s a short timeline but I have confidence in the government and their negotiations,” said Mary Moran, CEO of Calgary 2026.
“Our job is to provide a service to them, which is providing information. There’s still lots of questions, so they’ll get it out as soon as they possibly can.”
At WinSport on Thursday, Moran said according to calculations by Calgary 2026, the cost of hosting the Games would be “$1,600 to $1,800” per household in Calgary, paid back over eight years.
Calgary ’s portion of the Olympic bill is an estimated $500 million (or 15 per cent) if a cost-sharing agreement can be reached between the city, the province and the federal government. Ottawa has also not publicly divulged what it would contribute to a potential Games.
The province’s WinSport fund- ing announcement was made at the Celebration of Sport awards ceremony, where the Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. was presented with the Ron Southern Business and Sport Award, and the Calgary Minor Soccer Association was given the Sport Leadership Award.
Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he expects to know the province’s potential share within the deadline, but added he wouldn’t be fussed if the province is “a couple of days late” to make the announcement in tandem with the federal government.
“It basically is changing every second,” Nenshi said of Olympic talks with other orders of government. “I know that (the province) had promised to come out 30 days in advance. I also know that it would be much better for everybody if all the parties came out at once, and I know the other parties aren’t quite ready yet.”
Todd Hirsch, chief economist with ATB Financial, said the city is still seeing the economic benefits of the ’88 Games.
“They are harder to quantify, for sure. But I don’t think anybody would say economically we would be better off without those facilities,” Hirsch said.
Olympian Catriona Le May Doan, who lives in Calgary “because of ’88” and its legacy, said the lack of details from the province shouldn’t cause Calgarians to panic about the fate of the 2026 Games.
“We need people to find out information about what the revenues will be, what the IOC will be bringing, what ticket revenues (will be),” she said.
She also encouraged Calgarians to attend the city’s information sessions to learn more about the costs and benefits of hosting the Games.
“People say $5.23 billion ... that is not the right number,” Le May Doan said.
“It’s $2.23 billion and then $3 billion from the three levels of government. So finding out the information, that’s what we need to do.”
The city’s next information session will be on Friday at pop-up events at Bow Valley Square and the Plus-15 at Fifth Avenue Place.
For a full list of the city ’s engagement events and to fill out an online survey, visit Calgary.ca.2026/ Games.
I know it would be much better for everybody if all the parties came out atonce,andI know the other parties aren’t quite ready yet.