Calgary

Calgary 2026 Winter Olympics bid update expected later this month

Mayor Naheed Nenshi says a final decision on whether to proceed with a bid is expected this summer.

Provincial and federal levels of government must support bid or it goes nowhere, says Calgary mayor

Calgary hosted the Olympics in 1988 and has launched a bid to host them again in 2026. An update on the bid process is expected later this month. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

Calgarians will get an update later this month on the potential 2026 Winter Olympics bid.

Mayor Naheed Nenshi says a final decision on whether to proceed with a bid is expected this summer.

He says plans for a public consultation will be announced soon.

However, he says there won't be any bid at all unless the federal and provincial governments are behind the idea.

"I did raise this issue with the prime minister, who, you know, certainly didn't commit to anything, but was very interested in seeing what the committee's work was," Nenshi said.

"From the provincial government, I haven't heard anything yet."

Mayor Naheed Nenshi says he has spoken to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau about Calgary's Olympic bid but has received no assurances of federal funding. The same goes for provincial authorities. (CBC)

A final report on a potential Olympic bid is expected by the end of June.

"In reality though, let's remember that there are some circuit breakers here," said Nenshi. "And if in fact we learn that there's no interest from the provincial or federal governments on this, we really can't proceed regardless, these are all things that I know that committee is working on at arms length hard right now."

The Canadian Olympic Committee must decide by September whether it will support a Calgary bid going forward to the International Olympic Committee.