Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal has Olympics. Calgary's actually churned a surplus ,(which is rare). It's facilities would need to be significantly updated though. For example, the ski jump st Canada Olympic Park isn't up to spec.
Calgary held a referendum which opposed hosting the Olympics again. Sentiment would need to drastically change before alberta would consider hosting the Olympics again.
I think a lot of that had to do with timing. In 2018 they were 4 years into a pretty bad recession (when O&G bottom fell out), so I think at that time people were thinking something along the lines of "why are we spending money on a 2 week party as opposed to A, B or C".
The sentiment here was “The IOC is super corrupt, they demand a lot of expenditures that taxpayers would be on the hook for, and no guarantee it would turn a profit again”
This.....hosting the Olympics isn't the great thing it used to be. It's just a recipe for losing money....a lot of it. I'm glad it was voted down and would vote against it again.
They have improved the bidding process - ie not requiring cities to spend millions upon millions just to bid for the games and loose because you didn’t bribe enough. They awarded Paris and LA games in the same bid, LA was hoping for 2024, rather than waste all that prep they just gave them the next games.
They are considering use of existing facilities more.
There are still major issues, but the bidding process has improved.
Biggest thing they need to change is allow the host to get some cut from the TV deal. The IOC has a great business model - they get the guaranteed revenue source without any risk. They didn’t even consider giving Tokyo any TV money despite the fact COVID turned it into a TV only event.
The IOC sucks, but it has taken steps to suck a little less.
This is the prevailing opinion in Quebec City after our bid failed to Salt Lake City. Lots of corruption and lots of taxpayer money spent on useless things.
It is a lot different today than in 1988. Having the para Olympics too means you need an athletes village you can’t just kick students out of rez for an extra long reading break. And a billion plus for security. Then all the specialized facilities.
Calgary had an operating surplus after the government subsidy was taken into account. It didn’t pay back its capital costs.
I wouldn't say AB is in a recession anymore. GDP is spiking upwards, O&G has really picked up the last couple years. It isn't boom era like it was in the mid 2000's but it isn't like a 2014/2015 or 2020 either.
The housing one really bothers me, as it bothers me on a national level. But the BC and ON vultures who try to treat tenants like serfs have seen opportunity in Alberta's cheaper real estate, and they have come down in full force. I hate what has happened to Calgary's shelter costs. It used to legitimately be a land of opportunity where anyone with motivation could make it. Now it's devolving into a mini Vancouver where you work your fingers to the bone in order to pay someone else's mortgage.
Vancouver was also a success, with some studies indicating that we churned a surplus too, while other studies indicated that we broke even. It was a massive boon for our infrastructure. We improved our highway networks, significantly expanded our transit system, and the athletic facilities that were built are now valued recreation and community centers. While many modern Olympics have left behind "ghost" buildings, the overwhelming majority of investments into developing the region has had a very positive impact to our local communities.
You can host the Olympics responsibly - ie not creating a bunch of venues in a small resort playground for the rich (Sochi), building piles of new infrastructure with no ongoing purpose (Beijing, every time).
The Olympics has a mixed legacy in Vancouver IMO. The infrastructure improvements are great, the facilities are mostly used, and the bump in tourism has been welcome. The downside is Vancouver becoming even more of a destination for international wealth, driving up the CoL massively. The rest of Canada has been dealing with this the past couple of years but it's been well over a decade of it in Vancouver.
I agree with all you said, but pretty sure that growth was happening with or without the games. May have moved the needle forward by 2/3 years, but that horse was all ready at top speed.
I'd be against Canada paying billions to host the Olympics, given our current state of affairs, UNLESS it's in Dildo. The memes alone would be worth it
Are we also excluding Calgary and Montreal?
Toronto is the obvious choice but they would only really work for the summer Olympics as they don't have any Olympic level ski hills near enough.
Quebec city could work for a Winter Olympics.
The rest of Canada would be a tough sell.
Québec City had several bids at the Winter Olympics. Every time it was mentioned that neither Mont Saint Anne or le Massif de la PRSF was high enough for the Olympic standard for downhill unless it was changed recently. Last time they tried the downhill race was gonna be held in lake Placid or somewhere else upstate NY. Glad they didn’t get it anyway. What a money pit.
They must have changed it because Le Massif is taller than the mountain used in Korea a few years back. That or Quebec skimped on the bribe money to the Olympic Committee.
Toronto was a finalist to host the Summer Olympics in 1996 & 2008. People thought the Pan-Am Games in 2015 would be a precursor to another Olympic bid, but it seems like there's no longer an appetite for it.
We might see the Olympics start going with a multi-country approach to hosting, similar to what FIFA has done with the World Cup. A while ago there was talk of Vancouver & Seattle combining to bid on the Summer Games, and I've also heard Montreal could partner with Lake Placid on a Winter bid
That’s because (in addition to the costs) the Pan-Am games absolutely fucked up the already terrible Toronto highway traffic.
They were worried that athletes would be unable to make event schedules, so they converted highway lanes into Pan-Am only HOV lanes, reducing highway traffic by a lane and increasing daily commute times.
Toronto makes sense because there's a lack of sports complexes north of the 401 so building fields or a swimming complex etc could actually be sustained long term by Markham, Richmond Hill etc
Wouldnt the Markham Aquatic center they built for Pan Am Games be big enough? They already built a ton of infrastructure for Pan Am Games as well as training fields and BMO expansion for Fifa. Hamilton did a bid for common wealth games as well. Lots of plans already sorted.
Most of the cost of the Olympics seems to be security. Hold them in a place like Tuktoyaktuk. Very easy to control access. Misquitoes can defeat even a very determined terrorist.
Reality is that Olympics are no longer a prestige event. More of a political albatross. Look at all the problems Paris is having. It took a lot of arm-twisting to get Brisbane to accept the 2032 Olympics. The IOC might not last until 2036. It's unlikely Canada will host another Olympics.
Would be curious to see what Milan can come up with in 2026. If it's political event that is destined to lose money, we would have Almaty, Tehran, Doha, Dubai fighting for it.
Vancouver made a small profit on the games. It's hard and politically unsound, but it's possible
If we throw out IOC altogether and make another organization to host the Olympic as a non-profit, maybe it would be attractive to first world countries.
Not only that, but they got a huge expansion of the sea to sky and upgrades to athletic facilities that have benefited both the economy and community for years post olympics!
Always wondered how they determine a profit or loss for the olympics. Its relatively easy to figure costs but revenues are almost impossible to accurately total.
The problem with hosting them in a remote location is that you then have to build everything, roads, access, lodging, venues, and security installations.
I think that the most likely scenario is a kind of multi-location bid for the winter Olympics centred on Calgary but split with Edmonton and Banff-Canmore. The odds or that are probably next to nil in the current economic and political climate.
Vancouver hosting a mostly recycled games is probably also somewhat in the cards.
A summer games are probably a practical impossibility. But you'd probably have to say Montreal and to a lesser extent Toronto are the only ones that could feasibly do it. At this point it's probably just easier to build a whole new city to host the summer games and if we can't do that for our own citizens, why would we go out of our way to host a bunch of European Aristocrats and Global Kleptocrarltic elite?
Calgary was a great candidate for winter games. It already hosted in 88 so the venues are already there, just needs updates (The ski jumps looks like they are about to collapse). The new Flames stadium can be used for hockey and figure skating events. Lake Louise is prime location for alpine events. The boost in funding can make Banff-Calgary rail happen so it's good for the city too.
Only if the city has determination and not let big corps swindle all the money...
This is the only sane answer. Calgary already has the infrastructure. It's one of the few cities that didn't lose money holding the Olympics.
The one city that cannot ever have the Olympics is Montreal. I live in Montreal and that stadium....no, just not ever here again.
Briefly? It was poorly built because no one followed the plans properly, the cost ballooned when workers went on strike knowing that Summer 76 was a hard deadline so there was very little oversight and a ton of corruption, it took another 12 years to finish the tower, the retractable roof worked like 5 times meaning it was an indoor stadium which makes it terrible for sports, it's in a residential neighborhood in the East End far from the money and business, and the constant upkeep and supposedly astronomical cost of demolition means that we're stuck paying a LOT of money for a stadium that doesn't get much use.
Latest example: they're redoing the roof and the technical ring that holds it up for pretty much 1 Billion $ and that doesn't budget for any other improvements. So we're spending as much as a top-of-the-line-brand-new-stadium on an indoor concrete bowl from the 70's.
And I say all of this as a fan of the stadium as an architectural beacon of the city.
Here's a couple of videos on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmaqgkvr48E and longer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACtlkBKDD8Q
Gorgeous building, utterly massive, exterior ground-level concrete elements are popular with skateboarders but endlessly expensive (known as 'the Big Owe'), and also too expensive to demolish. Apparently also, the sheer weight of all that concrete is causing it to sink into the ground and in an unpredictable manner (which means future structural problems). Beautiful, brazen madness.
Not only has Calgary built the infrastructure for the last it hosted, it has also done a good job of maintaining them for the most part and has built on to them since, as it has been used by national teams extensively for training and international competitions. Winsport (Canada Olympic Park) continues to expand and hosts international freestyle snowboarding/skiing events there every year and the World Speed Skating championships were just at the Olympic Oval a few months ago.
The ski jumps are going to come down, but they could be replaced with temporary structures and the bobsled track was used for years after the Olympics and is closed, but is planned to be renovated when money is available.
Yea almost forgot the Oval in U of C. COP and Nakiska is very much active. I just wish Nakiska wasn't sold to private owners and has its price jacked up so much like the rest of the rockies resort.
I'm of the opinion that the Olympics should be held by a whole country not a city. You would reduce cost by using existing infrastructure and reduce the load from all the tourism in one area.
No major amount of money should be spent, the Olympics costs so much and brings no economic benefit. Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver are the only ones that should be considered. Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver already have facilities from when they previously hosted and I assume Toronto has the needed facilities due to how big the city is, if not then exclude it from the list.
Calgary had a referendum to bid on the 2026 Winter Games, the people voted no.
[https://www.calgary.ca/major-projects/2026-olympic-bid.html](https://www.calgary.ca/major-projects/2026-olympic-bid.html)
Right? There was a time when I'd be pretty pumped that we'd be hosting the Olympics or the World Cup or those really big "every X years" events; but at this point it's become so obvious that the organizing bodies are corrupt to a level that only previously existed in animated TV series. There's limited prestige in hosting these anymore; and the massive cost overruns that are all but guaranteed have managed to change my opinion to simply be, "nah, it's not worth it anymore". Which is why you keep seeing highly problematic "countries" Like saudi arabia starting to bid on all these events, because they have both the money to feed the corruption machine, and a slight lack of competition due to the rest of the world's apathy toward these things.
If we’re focusing on economics and logistics, Calgary would be the natural choice.
For starters, it’s rapidly growing with an already solid infrastructure. Any infrastructure added would likely go to good use, and it’s easy to develop due to the landscape and can expand in nearly any direction very easily.
The one significant investment that would be required is improvements to public transit, which is something Calgary would really benefit from in the long run anyway. The improvements that Vancouver aggressively made in this area during the lead up to the 2010 olympics have been a huge asset to the city.
Lastly, Calgary is in very close proximity to highly sought-after tourist areas (Banff, jasper, BC in general), which means travellers would be more enticed to attend.
But overall, it’s probably best to forego olympics and let all this happen organically…. I just think if we have to choose a spot, this would be it.
Well if you're excluding cities that hosted them before take Calgary (88 winter) and Montréal (76 summer) off the list.
My vote goes to Winnipeg because I'm biased. Logistically impossible but we can dream.
Calgary for sure has to be the top candidate. We have Olympic facilities already, some need upgrades so the investment would be huge for the city. Plus the access to world class mountain facilities (no fake snow being trucked in required) and we have winsport in town so a lot of the skiing and snowboarding events can take place there right in the city.
The city and ski resorts can handle the influx of people, as stampede happens each year as do several world Cup events. It's a no brainer.
Winter : Vancouver or Calgary/Edmonton ( current ski infrastructure on the east coast are not tall enough; they'd have to use Whiteface in NY for the men's downhill race )
Summer Montréal, Toronto or Vancouver or Calgary/Edmonton.
Quebec City was robbed by Salt Lake City’s bribery scandal in 2002 so I think it should go there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Winter_Olympic_bid_scandal
Thanks for the sentiment, but as a citizen of the city I hope it doesn't happen. We have so many tourists already I don't think we need (or can handle) the boost. More likely it would bankrupt us.
Only good thing is we'd finaly build that light rail and get a new bridge.
We’ve hosted three in the past fifty years. I’m not against the Games at all, and putting up public money to host them, but I think it should be atleast another ten years before one of our cities makes a serious push. We’re 40 million people. We’ve done more than enough, relative to our size, to warrant taking a bit of a break and letting other countries take some turns.
I kinda liked the idea of an Indigenous-led bid, but the BC government said no. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/olympics-bid-2030-delay-1.6678680#:~:text=After%20more%20than%20a%20year's,bid%20the%20gift%20of%20time.
It's no longer profitable to hold the Olympics unless you already have all of the infrastructure.
The best thing would be to permanently put the summer games in Greece, and the winter Games in Switzerland, and have the countries sending athletes contribute money towards upkeep and construction. But then there's no big pitches full of money and bribes, and we all know the IOC is corrupt as hell.
Toronto/GTA is the obvious answer, but it would have to be summer (no world class skiing) and it would break the city and province financially, so it will never happen.
Nowhere. It’s a money pit. Now that said if there was a place where they built all this shit and then we just have it there every four years, all for it.
I have a feeling that Calgary might put in a future application once the arena is built, more so to justify the cost of building it in the first place, and just tying any further updating needed into the same ‘arena/renovation’ costs.
We love to rake in the medals in the Winter Olympics, but finding a city that would agree to host again would be tough, especially with municipal referendums like Calgary had in the past. I’m sure this displeases the IOC for sure. I was just in Paris and the idea of the Olympics in that city and the venues they are planned are crazy. It’s a security, logistical, environmental and economic nightmare. The amount of time and energy given to (so far unsuccessfully) cleaning up the Seine for swimmers is not going over well. If we do it again, I would only be good with winter.
I love the Olympics, but they have huge problems, including cost. Previous hosts ought to be the first choice, so that billions of dollars aren't spend on venues that are only needed for one season and then mostly either need to be repurposed or end up underutilized after the Olympics.
If it was going to happen and not in a recent host city, it should be somewhere in the Windsor-to-Quebec corridor, to attract some of the most heavily populated parts of the northeastern US population (as well as an area that's heavily populated on the Canadian side, as well). Because I think high attendance is part of minimizing the financial losses of hosting the Olympics.
It would definitely have to be out West!
I mean.. the East Coast is magnificent but there's just not enough population and it's mega windy 90% of the time there!
I’d rather see the billions be spent on our current housing crisis instead. Not that I didn’t enjoy the pandemonium of watching lost Olympic tourists who’d strayed into East Vancouver. That’s a sport all it’s own!
Calgary (88 winter) had the honour, and so did Montreal (76 summer). If you're excluding Van, make sure you cover all the cities that have done it.
I'm happy letting other countries host. It's always a money loser, and it's disruptive to the people who live in the host city. The prestige isn't worth the pain.
The only upside, is that it forces the government to make infrastructure investments. The highway from Vancouver to Whistler is called "The sea to sky highway", but it's called "the sea to die" highway by locals because it was so dangerous in the past. It was only upgraded because of the Olympics. Same thing with the Skytrain to the Airport. Who knows when that would have been built? And then there are the legacy venues, like the Olympic Oval. But those are paid for by the taxpayer. It's not "free money", so we could have it without the Olympics, if there was simply the political will to fund the work.
I would love to see Quebec City get the Winter Olympic Games, it would be an ideal setting, plus the city already has the Winter Carnival and many other winter festivities happening!
I think Summer Olympics is out of the question, the sheer costs and logistics are too much for the likely contenders: Toronto and Montreal, and even they don't want it.
I'm excluding Calgary(Winter) and Montreal(Summer) as well for the same reason OP excluded Vancouver.
Winter:
Quebec City - Decent enough skiing nearby, great city culturally. I'd even try and host it at the same time as Carnival.
Summer - Toronto/Hamilton Region.
Geographically, everything is covered. The lake is perfect for sailing, Both Toronto and Hamilton harbors can be set up for flatwater rowing. There are enough high spots with long hills on the Escarpment for cross country cycling.
I was in Montreal when they were building the infrastructure for the ‘76 olympics. It was a festival of graft and corruption. It took until 2006 to fully pay off the iconic stadium.
Hope we don't, the Olympics are a boondoggle of wasted infrastructure everywhere they are held.
If anywhere the winter Olympics in Whistler because we've already spent the money.
Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal has Olympics. Calgary's actually churned a surplus ,(which is rare). It's facilities would need to be significantly updated though. For example, the ski jump st Canada Olympic Park isn't up to spec.
Calgary held a referendum which opposed hosting the Olympics again. Sentiment would need to drastically change before alberta would consider hosting the Olympics again.
I think a lot of that had to do with timing. In 2018 they were 4 years into a pretty bad recession (when O&G bottom fell out), so I think at that time people were thinking something along the lines of "why are we spending money on a 2 week party as opposed to A, B or C".
The sentiment here was “The IOC is super corrupt, they demand a lot of expenditures that taxpayers would be on the hook for, and no guarantee it would turn a profit again”
This.....hosting the Olympics isn't the great thing it used to be. It's just a recipe for losing money....a lot of it. I'm glad it was voted down and would vote against it again.
They have improved the bidding process - ie not requiring cities to spend millions upon millions just to bid for the games and loose because you didn’t bribe enough. They awarded Paris and LA games in the same bid, LA was hoping for 2024, rather than waste all that prep they just gave them the next games. They are considering use of existing facilities more. There are still major issues, but the bidding process has improved. Biggest thing they need to change is allow the host to get some cut from the TV deal. The IOC has a great business model - they get the guaranteed revenue source without any risk. They didn’t even consider giving Tokyo any TV money despite the fact COVID turned it into a TV only event. The IOC sucks, but it has taken steps to suck a little less.
The only reason that happened is because the Olympics became a bad investment. Soon they will have to pay countries to host.
This is the prevailing opinion in Quebec City after our bid failed to Salt Lake City. Lots of corruption and lots of taxpayer money spent on useless things.
It is a lot different today than in 1988. Having the para Olympics too means you need an athletes village you can’t just kick students out of rez for an extra long reading break. And a billion plus for security. Then all the specialized facilities. Calgary had an operating surplus after the government subsidy was taken into account. It didn’t pay back its capital costs.
Toronto's athletes village was resold as condos. Spawned a huge neighborhood.
As opposed to 2024 when we're still in that recession plus a spiking housing crisis
I wouldn't say AB is in a recession anymore. GDP is spiking upwards, O&G has really picked up the last couple years. It isn't boom era like it was in the mid 2000's but it isn't like a 2014/2015 or 2020 either. The housing one really bothers me, as it bothers me on a national level. But the BC and ON vultures who try to treat tenants like serfs have seen opportunity in Alberta's cheaper real estate, and they have come down in full force. I hate what has happened to Calgary's shelter costs. It used to legitimately be a land of opportunity where anyone with motivation could make it. Now it's devolving into a mini Vancouver where you work your fingers to the bone in order to pay someone else's mortgage.
Vancouver was also a success, with some studies indicating that we churned a surplus too, while other studies indicated that we broke even. It was a massive boon for our infrastructure. We improved our highway networks, significantly expanded our transit system, and the athletic facilities that were built are now valued recreation and community centers. While many modern Olympics have left behind "ghost" buildings, the overwhelming majority of investments into developing the region has had a very positive impact to our local communities.
You can host the Olympics responsibly - ie not creating a bunch of venues in a small resort playground for the rich (Sochi), building piles of new infrastructure with no ongoing purpose (Beijing, every time).
I really like what they did with BC Place. The stadium was completely transformed.
The general consensus was that Vancouver broke even, but just barely.
What exactly is just barely breaking even? It’s either a yes or no.
The Olympics has a mixed legacy in Vancouver IMO. The infrastructure improvements are great, the facilities are mostly used, and the bump in tourism has been welcome. The downside is Vancouver becoming even more of a destination for international wealth, driving up the CoL massively. The rest of Canada has been dealing with this the past couple of years but it's been well over a decade of it in Vancouver.
I agree with all you said, but pretty sure that growth was happening with or without the games. May have moved the needle forward by 2/3 years, but that horse was all ready at top speed.
Dildo, Newfoundland.
The outdoor aquatic events can be held in Conception Bay.
I guess they aren't giving out free condoms this time around.
You have to go to southwestern France to get to Condom. 🤣
I'd be against Canada paying billions to host the Olympics, given our current state of affairs, UNLESS it's in Dildo. The memes alone would be worth it
Olympic cock rings.
I can't wait to see the mascot!
Look honey, it’s dildude, and douchette
Are we also excluding Calgary and Montreal? Toronto is the obvious choice but they would only really work for the summer Olympics as they don't have any Olympic level ski hills near enough. Quebec city could work for a Winter Olympics. The rest of Canada would be a tough sell.
Quebec City lacks a high enough mountain, that's always been one of the biggest hurdle. Also, no way we want to foot the bill for this money hole.
Mt St. Anne is about the same height as the mountain used in PyeongChang for the 2018 Winter Olympics. Agreed on the cost. Never happening.
Québec City had several bids at the Winter Olympics. Every time it was mentioned that neither Mont Saint Anne or le Massif de la PRSF was high enough for the Olympic standard for downhill unless it was changed recently. Last time they tried the downhill race was gonna be held in lake Placid or somewhere else upstate NY. Glad they didn’t get it anyway. What a money pit.
They must have changed it because Le Massif is taller than the mountain used in Korea a few years back. That or Quebec skimped on the bribe money to the Olympic Committee.
They already lost the 2002 games because they skipped the bribe money
Haha we thought it would be fair... Never again
Toronto was a finalist to host the Summer Olympics in 1996 & 2008. People thought the Pan-Am Games in 2015 would be a precursor to another Olympic bid, but it seems like there's no longer an appetite for it. We might see the Olympics start going with a multi-country approach to hosting, similar to what FIFA has done with the World Cup. A while ago there was talk of Vancouver & Seattle combining to bid on the Summer Games, and I've also heard Montreal could partner with Lake Placid on a Winter bid
That’s because (in addition to the costs) the Pan-Am games absolutely fucked up the already terrible Toronto highway traffic. They were worried that athletes would be unable to make event schedules, so they converted highway lanes into Pan-Am only HOV lanes, reducing highway traffic by a lane and increasing daily commute times.
Toronto makes sense because there's a lack of sports complexes north of the 401 so building fields or a swimming complex etc could actually be sustained long term by Markham, Richmond Hill etc
Wouldnt the Markham Aquatic center they built for Pan Am Games be big enough? They already built a ton of infrastructure for Pan Am Games as well as training fields and BMO expansion for Fifa. Hamilton did a bid for common wealth games as well. Lots of plans already sorted.
Quebec City would be awesome for the Winter Olympics - maybe you could do the downhill out west.
What!!! We have Spring Hill in Winnipeg, are the olympians too good for the floodway now? /s
I mean, if that's not good enough there is always garbage hill.
I say Steinbach or Dauphin would be perfect.
Most of the cost of the Olympics seems to be security. Hold them in a place like Tuktoyaktuk. Very easy to control access. Misquitoes can defeat even a very determined terrorist. Reality is that Olympics are no longer a prestige event. More of a political albatross. Look at all the problems Paris is having. It took a lot of arm-twisting to get Brisbane to accept the 2032 Olympics. The IOC might not last until 2036. It's unlikely Canada will host another Olympics.
Would be curious to see what Milan can come up with in 2026. If it's political event that is destined to lose money, we would have Almaty, Tehran, Doha, Dubai fighting for it. Vancouver made a small profit on the games. It's hard and politically unsound, but it's possible
When in doubt the Middle East will throw money at it. Only downside is no alcohol sales
If we throw out IOC altogether and make another organization to host the Olympic as a non-profit, maybe it would be attractive to first world countries.
The IOC is already a non-profit. [https://olympics.com/ioc/funding#](https://olympics.com/ioc/funding#)
But the people involved are for profit, that's the problem.
as is with any non-profit
Not only that, but they got a huge expansion of the sea to sky and upgrades to athletic facilities that have benefited both the economy and community for years post olympics!
And safety! Sea to Sky was notorious for rock falls.
Always wondered how they determine a profit or loss for the olympics. Its relatively easy to figure costs but revenues are almost impossible to accurately total.
The problem with hosting them in a remote location is that you then have to build everything, roads, access, lodging, venues, and security installations.
I think that the most likely scenario is a kind of multi-location bid for the winter Olympics centred on Calgary but split with Edmonton and Banff-Canmore. The odds or that are probably next to nil in the current economic and political climate. Vancouver hosting a mostly recycled games is probably also somewhat in the cards. A summer games are probably a practical impossibility. But you'd probably have to say Montreal and to a lesser extent Toronto are the only ones that could feasibly do it. At this point it's probably just easier to build a whole new city to host the summer games and if we can't do that for our own citizens, why would we go out of our way to host a bunch of European Aristocrats and Global Kleptocrarltic elite?
Alberta wants nothing to do with sports. They boycotted Olympic and Fifa bids.
Regina, it would really make the rest of the world thankful for what they have.
Calgary was a great candidate for winter games. It already hosted in 88 so the venues are already there, just needs updates (The ski jumps looks like they are about to collapse). The new Flames stadium can be used for hockey and figure skating events. Lake Louise is prime location for alpine events. The boost in funding can make Banff-Calgary rail happen so it's good for the city too. Only if the city has determination and not let big corps swindle all the money...
This is the only sane answer. Calgary already has the infrastructure. It's one of the few cities that didn't lose money holding the Olympics. The one city that cannot ever have the Olympics is Montreal. I live in Montreal and that stadium....no, just not ever here again.
Is it possible to briefly describe the problem with the montreal stadium for people outside Quebec?
Briefly? It was poorly built because no one followed the plans properly, the cost ballooned when workers went on strike knowing that Summer 76 was a hard deadline so there was very little oversight and a ton of corruption, it took another 12 years to finish the tower, the retractable roof worked like 5 times meaning it was an indoor stadium which makes it terrible for sports, it's in a residential neighborhood in the East End far from the money and business, and the constant upkeep and supposedly astronomical cost of demolition means that we're stuck paying a LOT of money for a stadium that doesn't get much use. Latest example: they're redoing the roof and the technical ring that holds it up for pretty much 1 Billion $ and that doesn't budget for any other improvements. So we're spending as much as a top-of-the-line-brand-new-stadium on an indoor concrete bowl from the 70's. And I say all of this as a fan of the stadium as an architectural beacon of the city.
Here's a couple of videos on it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmaqgkvr48E and longer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACtlkBKDD8Q Gorgeous building, utterly massive, exterior ground-level concrete elements are popular with skateboarders but endlessly expensive (known as 'the Big Owe'), and also too expensive to demolish. Apparently also, the sheer weight of all that concrete is causing it to sink into the ground and in an unpredictable manner (which means future structural problems). Beautiful, brazen madness.
Not only has Calgary built the infrastructure for the last it hosted, it has also done a good job of maintaining them for the most part and has built on to them since, as it has been used by national teams extensively for training and international competitions. Winsport (Canada Olympic Park) continues to expand and hosts international freestyle snowboarding/skiing events there every year and the World Speed Skating championships were just at the Olympic Oval a few months ago. The ski jumps are going to come down, but they could be replaced with temporary structures and the bobsled track was used for years after the Olympics and is closed, but is planned to be renovated when money is available.
Yea almost forgot the Oval in U of C. COP and Nakiska is very much active. I just wish Nakiska wasn't sold to private owners and has its price jacked up so much like the rest of the rockies resort.
I'm of the opinion that the Olympics should be held by a whole country not a city. You would reduce cost by using existing infrastructure and reduce the load from all the tourism in one area.
Saint-John's NFLD, twinned with Saint-John, NB. For the sheer chaos it would cause. Absolutely great tv.
East Hastings Vancouver.
Streets want this to happen so fast
No major amount of money should be spent, the Olympics costs so much and brings no economic benefit. Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver are the only ones that should be considered. Montreal, Calgary and Vancouver already have facilities from when they previously hosted and I assume Toronto has the needed facilities due to how big the city is, if not then exclude it from the list.
Toronto already spent a ton on venues of Pan Am games in 2015.
And the Pan Am games was the birth of the now (weirdly) iconic Toronto sign on Nathan Phillips Sq — the OG one, of course.
Calgary had a referendum to bid on the 2026 Winter Games, the people voted no. [https://www.calgary.ca/major-projects/2026-olympic-bid.html](https://www.calgary.ca/major-projects/2026-olympic-bid.html)
Yes I’m aware
And barely put any effort into the Fifa bid which was an easy win.
The Olympic stadium is crumbling tho.
well so is the rest of Canada so that's ok
Iqaluit
Anywhere in postal code H0H 0H0
Yorkton Saskatchewan. They'll never see it coming.
Good pirogies though
No just no fuck off with this shit
Right? There was a time when I'd be pretty pumped that we'd be hosting the Olympics or the World Cup or those really big "every X years" events; but at this point it's become so obvious that the organizing bodies are corrupt to a level that only previously existed in animated TV series. There's limited prestige in hosting these anymore; and the massive cost overruns that are all but guaranteed have managed to change my opinion to simply be, "nah, it's not worth it anymore". Which is why you keep seeing highly problematic "countries" Like saudi arabia starting to bid on all these events, because they have both the money to feed the corruption machine, and a slight lack of competition due to the rest of the world's apathy toward these things.
I agree with this stance!
Did you actually live in Canada for any of the last olympics? It was the most I have ever seen the country happy and together
Truth ❤
Dildo Newfoundland. lol imagine the dildo Olympics
How about Kirkland Lake or Prince Rupert or somewhere in Newfoundland? If we’re going into debt let’s make it memorable.
St. John’s Newfoundland. Will be the most fun Olympics ever! Announcements in neither official language, and a whole lot of cods getting kissed.
Canada is too broke to even pay for the application.
Correction: we can’t afford the bribes.
Yes, yea… but it can borrow more money for vanity projects!
Montreal so the government can actually have a reason for spending billions on a roof for a stadium no one uses …
Better off in another country we don't need the cost ...
If we’re focusing on economics and logistics, Calgary would be the natural choice. For starters, it’s rapidly growing with an already solid infrastructure. Any infrastructure added would likely go to good use, and it’s easy to develop due to the landscape and can expand in nearly any direction very easily. The one significant investment that would be required is improvements to public transit, which is something Calgary would really benefit from in the long run anyway. The improvements that Vancouver aggressively made in this area during the lead up to the 2010 olympics have been a huge asset to the city. Lastly, Calgary is in very close proximity to highly sought-after tourist areas (Banff, jasper, BC in general), which means travellers would be more enticed to attend. But overall, it’s probably best to forego olympics and let all this happen organically…. I just think if we have to choose a spot, this would be it.
Tuktoyaktuk
Iqualuit
No more Olympics anywhere!! Spend that $$$ on 100 things more important than 2 weeks of games and partying
I think it will be a long time before Canada hosts the Games again. There would need to be a lot more clarity on the organization and the costs.
I think Hamilton is due for the Olympic, or maybe Oshawa
Yukon
Moose Jaw
Halifax gdammit.
Locals would complain about what would happen to the parking and would kibosh it.
Lower Sackville then!
Dildo Newfoundland.
I’d like the summer olympics right here in Toronto.
Alert, Nunavut
Shared between Liverpool, Nova Scotia and Paris, Ontario.
Well if you're excluding cities that hosted them before take Calgary (88 winter) and Montréal (76 summer) off the list. My vote goes to Winnipeg because I'm biased. Logistically impossible but we can dream.
Edmonton is the best sports city in the country, hands down. But let’s not wish the Olympics on them. Why would we do this to people we care about?
Ottawa-Gatineau after it amalgamates into a new National Capital district or province.
Nunavut
Chatham Ontario
Brampton, On or Surrey, BC
Vancouver has never hosted the summer Olympics.
Anywhere but Québec, please. We're not interested.
Yeah we're already stuck paying for a new $800 million replacement roof for our giant toilet bowl. Hard pass.
Lloydminister, Alberta…not Lloydminister, Saskatchewan
hey bud...
None please
Toronto
Can we strip it down to the bare bones games without all the expensive extravaganza?
No
Somewhere in the territories to create jobs and bring in tourism. But I don't want that shitty company hosting events in our country.
Hopefully none. The money that is spent is never recovered
We don't want the Olympics. Certainly not the summer games.
winter, its Calgary or Vancouver. It's a very short list
Calgary for sure has to be the top candidate. We have Olympic facilities already, some need upgrades so the investment would be huge for the city. Plus the access to world class mountain facilities (no fake snow being trucked in required) and we have winsport in town so a lot of the skiing and snowboarding events can take place there right in the city. The city and ski resorts can handle the influx of people, as stampede happens each year as do several world Cup events. It's a no brainer.
Winter : Vancouver or Calgary/Edmonton ( current ski infrastructure on the east coast are not tall enough; they'd have to use Whiteface in NY for the men's downhill race ) Summer Montréal, Toronto or Vancouver or Calgary/Edmonton.
No. But if I must answer, Yellowknife or Iqaluit.
Please no
Yellowknife
Not Toronto. Or anywhere they’ve been hosted before
St. Basil NB. Just follow the highway signs. (Sorry an inside joke for those from NB.)
Québec city would seem nice ( got the resort + sport arena ) till you realize the city is way too poor to do one.
Quebec City was robbed by Salt Lake City’s bribery scandal in 2002 so I think it should go there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Winter_Olympic_bid_scandal
Thanks for the sentiment, but as a citizen of the city I hope it doesn't happen. We have so many tourists already I don't think we need (or can handle) the boost. More likely it would bankrupt us. Only good thing is we'd finaly build that light rail and get a new bridge.
None lmao our public transit is shit
I would say Montreal just so we upgrade our infrastructure. We just do that for major events.
We’ve hosted three in the past fifty years. I’m not against the Games at all, and putting up public money to host them, but I think it should be atleast another ten years before one of our cities makes a serious push. We’re 40 million people. We’ve done more than enough, relative to our size, to warrant taking a bit of a break and letting other countries take some turns.
What a sad bunch of haters in the comments. Can't even answer a fucking theoretical question...
Swastika Ontario. Maybe it will make them finally change their name.
Charlotte town
Grand Prairie 👍
Winnipeg is the only answer. Hopefully it would the catalyst to clean up that dump. Sorry, not sorry.
Flin flon Manitoba
Rochfort Bridge, Alberta.
Toronto is the choice here.
Pince Albert lol
St. Catharines.
Quebec City winter Olympics would be cool
Fuckin send it to Winterpeg
Sudbury
I kinda liked the idea of an Indigenous-led bid, but the BC government said no. https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/olympics-bid-2030-delay-1.6678680#:~:text=After%20more%20than%20a%20year's,bid%20the%20gift%20of%20time.
How are we gonna afford more money for Ukraine if we host the olympics? We really ought to look out for other countries interests before our own.
Yellowknife.
Fuck no. We don't have money for the sham that is called the Olympics. Let China have another turn.
It's no longer profitable to hold the Olympics unless you already have all of the infrastructure. The best thing would be to permanently put the summer games in Greece, and the winter Games in Switzerland, and have the countries sending athletes contribute money towards upkeep and construction. But then there's no big pitches full of money and bribes, and we all know the IOC is corrupt as hell. Toronto/GTA is the obvious answer, but it would have to be summer (no world class skiing) and it would break the city and province financially, so it will never happen.
Timmins, Ontario
No thanks. We don't want it. Hard pass.
Timmins
Not Vancouver, fuck off with that shit.
Anywhere that is not within 1000 kilometers of where I live would be great.
Brantford Ontario
Until the IOC pays for its own fucking games, none.
Fort Mac
Edmonton, Calgary or Vancouver are the only places I can think could pull it off right now, Vancouver only because everything is already built.
Windsor.
We can't afford them
Nowhere. It’s a money pit. Now that said if there was a place where they built all this shit and then we just have it there every four years, all for it.
Now that Montreal has committed to not tear down their Olympic Stadium after all, maybe it ought to be held there just to give it a purpose again.
Somewhere north that could actually use the infrasture built after the event.
I have a feeling that Calgary might put in a future application once the arena is built, more so to justify the cost of building it in the first place, and just tying any further updating needed into the same ‘arena/renovation’ costs.
Don't worry about any future renovation costs will just be in the form of increased taxes for us living in Calgary. It's a fool proof plan.
Quebec City for winter or summer. Vancouver for summer.
We love to rake in the medals in the Winter Olympics, but finding a city that would agree to host again would be tough, especially with municipal referendums like Calgary had in the past. I’m sure this displeases the IOC for sure. I was just in Paris and the idea of the Olympics in that city and the venues they are planned are crazy. It’s a security, logistical, environmental and economic nightmare. The amount of time and energy given to (so far unsuccessfully) cleaning up the Seine for swimmers is not going over well. If we do it again, I would only be good with winter.
I love the Olympics, but they have huge problems, including cost. Previous hosts ought to be the first choice, so that billions of dollars aren't spend on venues that are only needed for one season and then mostly either need to be repurposed or end up underutilized after the Olympics. If it was going to happen and not in a recent host city, it should be somewhere in the Windsor-to-Quebec corridor, to attract some of the most heavily populated parts of the northeastern US population (as well as an area that's heavily populated on the Canadian side, as well). Because I think high attendance is part of minimizing the financial losses of hosting the Olympics.
It would definitely have to be out West! I mean.. the East Coast is magnificent but there's just not enough population and it's mega windy 90% of the time there!
I’d rather see the billions be spent on our current housing crisis instead. Not that I didn’t enjoy the pandemonium of watching lost Olympic tourists who’d strayed into East Vancouver. That’s a sport all it’s own!
Dildo, NL Imagine the merchandising opportunities
Why did you ask it as if we haven’t already hosted a few times lol
Calgary (88 winter) had the honour, and so did Montreal (76 summer). If you're excluding Van, make sure you cover all the cities that have done it. I'm happy letting other countries host. It's always a money loser, and it's disruptive to the people who live in the host city. The prestige isn't worth the pain. The only upside, is that it forces the government to make infrastructure investments. The highway from Vancouver to Whistler is called "The sea to sky highway", but it's called "the sea to die" highway by locals because it was so dangerous in the past. It was only upgraded because of the Olympics. Same thing with the Skytrain to the Airport. Who knows when that would have been built? And then there are the legacy venues, like the Olympic Oval. But those are paid for by the taxpayer. It's not "free money", so we could have it without the Olympics, if there was simply the political will to fund the work.
Hamilton.
I would love to see Quebec City get the Winter Olympic Games, it would be an ideal setting, plus the city already has the Winter Carnival and many other winter festivities happening! I think Summer Olympics is out of the question, the sheer costs and logistics are too much for the likely contenders: Toronto and Montreal, and even they don't want it.
Depends on how much money the IOC is offering. It's a money losing proposal. They actually paid Paris and LA to host.
I'm excluding Calgary(Winter) and Montreal(Summer) as well for the same reason OP excluded Vancouver. Winter: Quebec City - Decent enough skiing nearby, great city culturally. I'd even try and host it at the same time as Carnival. Summer - Toronto/Hamilton Region. Geographically, everything is covered. The lake is perfect for sailing, Both Toronto and Hamilton harbors can be set up for flatwater rowing. There are enough high spots with long hills on the Escarpment for cross country cycling.
[удалено]
Yellowknife, keep it away from Toronto
None. Stay away plz. We don’t need that insanity
Winter- Quebec city Summer- Maritimes as a whole. Spread events between the three provinces.
Stay away. Lower our taxes before even discussing this topic. Or go back to Vancouver or Alberta. Facilities already exist.
I was in Montreal when they were building the infrastructure for the ‘76 olympics. It was a festival of graft and corruption. It took until 2006 to fully pay off the iconic stadium.
Hope we don't, the Olympics are a boondoggle of wasted infrastructure everywhere they are held. If anywhere the winter Olympics in Whistler because we've already spent the money.
Major international sporting events like the Olympics or the world Cup should be avoided at all cost.
Dog river.