'The numbers just didn't add up': Alberta drops bid for 2030 Commonwealth Games

CTV News has learned that Alberta has withdrawn support for a bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games.

Alberta 2030 BidCo sent the following statement on Thursday:

"We received word yesterday that the provincial government was not in support of a bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games," it said.

"Over the past several months, we have worked closely with the Government of Alberta, City of Calgary, City of Edmonton, Government of Canada, Tsuut’ina Nation and Enoch Cree Nation, as well as dozens of other community partners to develop a compelling plan to host the Commonwealth Games in Alberta.

"In less than a month we were going to share the plan with the public and were eager to have an open dialogue about community priorities, advancing Reconciliation and building a vision as Albertans that we could collectively work towards.

"We are disappointed with the unexpected decision by the Government of Alberta and will not be commenting further at this time."

The news comes two weeks after the Australian state of Victoria dropped its bid for the 2026 Commonwealth Games due to the high cost of hosting.

PROVINCE RESPONDS

Early Thursday afternoon, CTV News received the following statement from Alberta Tourism and Sport Minister Joseph Schow:

"Alberta has a successful history of hosting major, international multi-sport games in our province and any proposal to host major games is considered with the interests of Alberta taxpayers at top of mind.

"We promised to remain transparent with Albertans about the costs of hosting international sporting events and clearly demonstrating a return on our investment for the people and communities of Alberta. 

"In the case of the 2030 Commonwealth Games, the numbers just didn’t add up for our government to commit taxpayer’s money with the games estimated to cost $2.68 billion. 

"The corporate sponsorship model and limited broadcast revenues for the Commonwealth Games would have put 93 per cent of the financial burden and risks on Albertans.

"We thank the partners, especially BidCo, for stepping up and exploring the possibility of hosting the Commonwealth Games here in our beautiful province."

Schow also responded to a reporter's question about whether the province planned a future Olympic games bid. He said no bids are presently being planned, adding the following:

"Alberta has a successful history of hosting major, international multi-sport games in our province and any proposal to host major games is considered with the interests of Alberta taxpayers at top of mind.

"As outlined in the Minister’s mandate letter, we will be developing a bid strategy for any future international multi-sport bids."

MAYORS CHIME IN

CTV News has reached out to various mayors and others for comment.

Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi provided the following statement:

"I appreciated being notified by Minister Schow as soon as the decision was made by the provincial government to withdraw its support. As one of the 40 best sports cities in the world, we were truly excited to unite people worldwide in a celebration of sport and culture, advance reconciliation with our Indigenous partners and create infrastructure and program legacies for future generations.

"Our talented city has an incredibly strong community and drive for success. Sports are part of our DNA and we love how it brings people together. Edmonton will continue hosting national and international events and showcase talented athletes of all ages and abilities while building legacies and lifetime memories for our community.

"We want to thank all partners who participated in this provincial bid exploration. We look forward to continued work with our government partners. I appreciate Minister Schow’s commitment to continue to work with the City of Edmonton to continue to build and rehabilitate sports infrastructure and advance sport tourism for our city, province, and country.”

Meanwhile, in Calgary, Mayor Jyoti Gondek offered the following:

"The provincial government's decision to withdraw from Alberta's 2030 Commonwealth Games bid process effectively terminates the bid and the City of Calgary's participation.

"Efforts to date have been focused on: 1) looking at the overall cost and financial return the Games could provide, 2) exploring opportunities for reconciliation and 3) analyzing the benefits of hosting related to investments in community sports facilities with options to both upgrade and build new infrastructure.

"I look forward to further discussions with the province regarding the opportunities that remain for further investment in our sports and recreation facilities, as well as our ability to attract world-class athletes to our city.

On behalf of my council colleagues, I want to express my profound gratitude to BidCo and to all Calgarians who have worked tirelessly on this bid."

APPLAUSE FROM TAXPAYERS FEDERATION

The Canadian Taxpayers Federation praised the decision to withdraw the bid.

"The Alberta government made the right decision and it'll save taxpayers a bunch of money," Kris Sims, the CTF Alberta director said in a release. "With so many Albertans struggling to make ends meet, it would have been wrong to stick taxpayers with a big bill for hosting a table tennis tournament."

Those sentiments were echoed by Concordia University economics professor Moshe Lander.

"Thank goodness for common sense," Lander said. "I wish we'd had this common sense when we were talking about Calgary 2026 (bidding for the winter Olympics).

Economist Moshe Lander

"This certainly could have hit taxpayers where it hurts," he continued. "The cost of hosting an event like this is going to run into the billions of dollars, and unfortunately, the revenues are going to come nowhere close to that by the time that organizing committees, broadcasters, everybody gets their cut.

"It's billions of dollars of expenditure for millions of dollars dollars of gain."

This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.