Canada Games

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Canada Games
Jeux du Canada
Opening ceremonies
2017 Canada Summer Games
StatusActive
GenreMulti-sport event
FrequencyBiannual
Location(s)Various
CountryCanada
InauguratedWinter Games
1967; 57 years ago (1967)

Summer Games
1969; 55 years ago (1969)
Organised byCanada Games Council
Websitecanadagames.ca

The Canada Games (French: Jeux du Canada) is a multi-sport event held every two years, alternating between the Canada Winter Games and the Canada Summer Games. They represent the highest level of national competition for Canadian athletes. Two separate programs are organized in order to cover the seasons of summer and winter: the Canada Summer Games (CSG) and the Canada Winter Games (CWG). Athlete age eligibility rules vary. The host cities have not been chosen for the games after 2025 but the provinces through 2035 have been selected. St. John's, Newfoundland will host the 2025 Canada Summer Games at the Aquarena, which is currently undergoing renovations in preparation for the event.

The first ever Canada Winter Games was the 1967 Canada Winter Games, marking the beginning of this important sporting event for Canadians. It has since become an integral part of celebrating Canadian talent for young amateur Canadian athletes focused on winter sports. The most recent Canada Winter Games was the PEI 2023 Canada Winter Games which ran from February 18 – March 5, 2023 in the province of Prince Edward Island.[1][2] The next Canada Winter Games, the 2027 Canada Winter Games, will be hosted in Quebec City, Quebec. The dates are to be announced.

The first ever Canada Summer Games was the 1969 Canada Summer Games. The most recent Canada Summer Games was the 2022 Canada Summer Games which took place August 6–21, 2022 in the Niagara Region.[3] The next Canada Summer Games, the 2025 Canada Summer Games, will be hosted in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador. St. John's Newfoundland and Labrador was named the Host Society of the 2025 Canada Summer Games as of April 22, 2021.

History[edit]

The Games were first held in 1967 in Quebec City as part of Canada's Centennial celebrations. For the first time in Canada's history, 1,800 athletes from 10 provinces and two territories gathered to compete in 15 sports. Since 1967, over 75,000 athletes have participated in the Games. The Games have been hosted in every province at least once since their inception in Quebec City during Canada’s Centennial in 1967. Journalist Eddie MacCabe wrote a history book for the 25th anniversary of the Canada Games in 1992.[4][5]

Facility development[edit]

Panorama of Yukon University in 2007. Buildings in the foreground are residences built for the 2007 Canada Winter Games as an athlete's village.
Facilities built for the Canada Games
Facility Broke ground City and Province
Canada Games Pool 1973 New Westminster, British Columbia
Canada Games Aquatic Centre 1985 Saint John, New Brunswick
Hillside Stadium and Aquatic Centre 1993 Kamloops, British Columbia
Corner Brook Canada Games Centre and Annex 1999 Corner Brook, Newfoundland and Labrador
TD Waterhouse Stadium 2001 London, Ontario
Yukon University residences built for the Canada Winter Games as an athlete's village Built for the 2007 Canada Winter Games Whitehorse, Yukon
Canada Games Centre Built for the 2011 Canada Winter Games Clayton Park, a suburb of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Sports[edit]

Over the course of the history of the Canada Games, a variety of sports have been added and dropped at various points within the Summer Games and Winter Games programs. The winter games include some sports not associated with winter.

Former sports[edit]

Fencing was previously a Winter Games sport before it was moved to Summer program for the Sherbrooke 2013 games and then removed altogether following those games. BMX, field hockey, and water polo were formerly in the Summer program as well.

Returning sports[edit]

Fencing made its return to the Games during the 2023 Canada Winter Games in Prince Edward Island. Its last appearance had been during the 2013 Canada Summer Games.

Box lacrosse made its return to the Summer Games during the 2022 Canada Summer Games. It was the first time box lacrosse had been featured since the 1985 Canada Games.[6]

Organization[edit]

The games are governed by the Canada Games Council, a private, non-profit organization. As the Games move from one host community to the next, the Council provides the continuity, leadership and support to Host Societies in key areas such as sport technical, organizational planning, ceremonies and protocol, marketing and sponsorship. In addition, the Canada Games Council ensures effective long-term partnerships with national sport organizations, governments and the corporate sector. The Canada Games Council is a well-established, national organization that fosters on-going partnerships with organizations at the municipal, provincial and national levels.

Host Society[edit]

The individual games are run by the local Host Society, a non-profit private organization that is established 2–4 years prior to the event. The Host Society functions in accordance with an agreement between the Canada Games Council, the government of Canada, the government of the province or territory and the government of the municipality. The Canada Games Council maintains and secures long-term partnership agreements with governments, corporations and national sport organizations.

Funding[edit]

Funding for the games comes from the several levels of government together with donations and corporate sponsorships. A considerable portion of the work during the games is performed by local volunteers.[7]

Hosts[edit]

The host cities have not been chosen for the games after 2025, but the provinces through 2037 have.[8]

Summer[edit]

Edition Year Host City Host Province/Territory Start Date End Date Competitors Sports Canada Games flag
1 1969 Halifax  Nova Scotia August 16 August 24 715 15  Ontario
2 1973 New WestminsterBurnaby  British Columbia August 3 August 12 1,676 16  British Columbia
3 1977 St. John's  Newfoundland and Labrador August 7 August 19 1,709 18  Ontario
4 1981 Thunder Bay  Ontario August 9 August 22 1,813 18  Ontario
5 1985 Saint John  New Brunswick August 11 August 24 2,465 18  Ontario
6 1989 Saskatoon  Saskatchewan August 8 August 21 2,465 18  Ontario
7 1993 Kamloops  British Columbia August 6 August 22 3,253 17  Ontario
8 1997 Brandon  Manitoba August 9 August 23 3,364 19  Ontario
9 2001 London  Ontario August 10 August 25 3,487 18  Ontario
10 2005 Regina  Saskatchewan August 6 August 20 3,511 16  Ontario
11 2009 Charlottetown-Summerside  Prince Edward Island August 15 August 29 3,432 18  Ontario
13 2013 Sherbrooke  Quebec August 2 August 17 3,361 19  Ontario
14 2017 Winnipeg  Manitoba July 28 August 13 3,382 18  Ontario
15 2022* Niagara Region  Ontario August 6 August 21 18  Ontario
16 2025 St. John's  Newfoundland and Labrador August 8 August 24
17 2029 TBD  New Brunswick TBD TBD
18 2033 TBD  Saskatchewan TBD TBD
19 2037 TBD  Nova Scotia TBD TBD
  • The 2022 Canada Games were scheduled to be held in 2021, but were rescheduled to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[9]

Winter[edit]

Edition Year Host City Host Province/Territory Start Date End Date Competitors Sports Canada Games flag
1 1967 Quebec City  Quebec February 11 February 19 557 15  Ontario
2 1971 Saskatoon  Saskatchewan February 11 February 22 687 17  Ontario
3 1975 Lethbridge  Alberta February 11 February 23 664 17  Quebec
4 1979 Brandon  Manitoba February 12 February 24 1,962 17  Quebec
5 1983 Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean  Quebec February 17 March 2 1,900 19  Ontario
6 1987 Cape Breton  Nova Scotia February 14 February 28 1,995 17  Ontario
7 1991 Charlottetown  Prince Edward Island February 17 March 2 2,304 19  Ontario
8 1995 Grande Prairie  Alberta February 19 March 4 2,284 21  Ontario
9 1999 Corner Brook  Newfoundland and Labrador February 20 March 6 2,808 21  Ontario
10 2003 Bathurst-Campbellton  New Brunswick February 22 March 8 2,606 21  Quebec
11 2007 Whitehorse  Yukon February 23 March 10 2,678 22  Ontario
12 2011 Halifax  Nova Scotia February 11 February 27 2,238 20  Ontario
13 2015 Prince George  British Columbia February 13 March 1 2,345 20  Ontario
14 2019 Red Deer  Alberta February 17 March 3 2,377 20  Quebec
15 2023 Prince Edward Island  Prince Edward Island February 18 March 5 TBD 20  Quebec
16 2027 Quebec City  Quebec TBD TBD TBD TBD
17 2031 TBD  Quebec TBD TBD TBD TBD
18 2035 TBD  Northwest Territories TBD TBD TBD TBD

Host provinces/territories[edit]

List of regions ranked by the number of times they hosted the Canada Games
Rank Province/Territory Summer Winter Total
1  Nova Scotia 2 (1969, 2037) 2 (1987, 2011) 4
 Quebec 1 (2013) 3 (1967, 1983, 2031) 4
 Saskatchewan 3 (1989, 2005, 2033) 1 (1971) 4
4  Alberta 0 3 (1975, 1995, 2019) 3
 British Columbia 2 (1973, 1993) 1 (2015) 3
 Manitoba 2 (1997, 2017) 1 (1979) 3
 New Brunswick 2 (1985, 2029) 1 (2003) 3
 Newfoundland and Labrador 2 (1977, 2025) 1 (1999) 3
 Prince Edward Island 1 (2009) 2 (1991, 2023) 3
 Ontario 3 (1981, 2001, 2022) 0 3
11  Northwest Territories 0 1 (2035) 1
 Yukon 0 1 (2007) 1
13  Nunavut 0 0 0

Map of host cities[edit]

All-time medal tables[edit]

For Games medal standings see List of Canada Games.

As of the 2022 Canada Games
Rank Province/Territory  Gold   Silver Bronze Total
1  Ontario 1297 1092 1013 3402
2  Quebec 1117 975 932 3024
3  British Columbia 730 809 773 2312
4  Alberta 505 569 668 1742
5  Saskatchewan 196 269 348 813
6  Manitoba 172 224 308 704
7  Nova Scotia 209 211 232 652
8  New Brunswick 72 92 165 329
9  Newfoundland and Labrador 20 48 71 139
10  Prince Edward Island 12 21 26 59
11  Yukon 15 23 19 57
12  Northwest Territories 7 6 9 22
13  Nunavut 1 0 1 2
Summer Games
Rank Province/territory  Gold   Silver Bronze Total
1  Ontario 763 576 547 1886
2  Quebec 436 483 468 1387
3  British Columbia 474 465 394 1333
4  Alberta 232 274 310 816
5  Nova Scotia 153 145 135 433
6  Saskatchewan 100 147 181 428
7  Manitoba 60 103 139 302
8  New Brunswick 33 45 59 137
9  Newfoundland and Labrador 4 19 26 49
10  Prince Edward Island 5 5 2 12
11  Yukon 2 1 3 6
12  Northwest Territories 0 0 0 0
13  Nunavut 1 0 0 1
Winter Games
Rank Province/territory  Gold   Silver Bronze Total
1  Quebec 634 456 431 1521
2  Ontario 464 457 425 1346
3  British Columbia 238 300 349 887
4  Alberta 238 265 323 826
5  Manitoba 103 112 155 370
6  Saskatchewan 95 108 154 357
7  New Brunswick 36 42 98 176
8  Nova Scotia 34 54 81 169
9  Newfoundland and Labrador 15 23 45 83
10  Prince Edward Island 6 16 24 46
11  Yukon 13 20 16 49
12  Northwest Territories 7 6 9 22
13  Nunavut 0 0 1 1

Medal leaders by year[edit]

Canada Summer Games medal table leaders by year:

Canada Winter Games medal table leaders by year:

Number of occurrences:

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "2023 Canada Games". 2023canadagames.ca. Canada Games Council.
  2. ^ "Canada Games Council | 2023 Canada Games Launches Brand and Welcomes Atlantic Lottery as First Major Sponsor".
  3. ^ Myrer, George (17 September 2020). "2021 Niagara Canada Summer Games postponed to 2022". The Telegram. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
  4. ^ Chwialkowska, Luiza (May 24, 1998). "Eddie MacCabe: A glimpse it the city's soul". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario. p. 7.Free access icon
  5. ^ MacCabe, Eddie (1992). Canada Games, 1967 to 1992: The Official Retrospective of the Canada Games. Ottawa, Ontario: Canada Games Council. OCLC 319697919.
  6. ^ "LACROSSE RETURNS TO CANADA GAMES IN 2021". Canada Games Council.
  7. ^ "Volunteer | 2019 Canada Games". Archived from the original on 2018-08-14. Retrieved 2018-08-13.
  8. ^ "New Hosting Rotation Revealed for Canada Games". Canada Games Council. Retrieved September 29, 2022.
  9. ^ "Canada Summer Games in Niagara rescheduled for August 2022". CBC News. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 26 October 2020. Retrieved 25 February 2022.

External links[edit]