Sudbury may bid to host 2025 Ontario 55+ games

The City of Greater Sudbury may be entering a bid to host the 2025 Ontario 55+ games.

If Greater Sudbury is selected as the host city, the games will bring in 1,200 participants over the course of 3 days in August of next year. 

The decision to put Sudbury's name forward was made by the community and emergency services committee of city council in a meeting earlier this week. 

Jeff Pafford, city leisure services director, told the committee that he's optimistic Sudbury is "well-suited" to host the games and will be relying on a mix of public and private venues to facilitate events.

It is estimated that the games will generate $1.5 million for the city's economy, based on the number of participants, length of stay and average tourism spending. The data comes from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism. 

The total price tag for hosting the games is estimated at cost $485,000, including a $45,000 contingency fund. 

Capital upgrades needed to city facilities

Additional capital upgrades to some city facilities to meet the games' needs might increase the price of hosting, according to the report presented to the committee. Based on preliminary information, city staff say the upgrades are minimal and incremental, using existing facilities. 

Councillor Pauline Fortin says hosting sounds like a great idea, but she is concerned about the cost of repairing amenities to facilitate certain sports such as swimming, cycling, and pickleball. 

"I feel like we're kind of giving a blank cheque," said Fortin during the committee meeting. She says she would like to see more solid figures associated with the costs of capital upgrades.

Greater Sudbury Development Corporation's tourism fund will contribute $90,000 to host the games. Over $230,000 will be funded through the Ontario Ministry of Sport Hosting Grant.

In a letter of support, Jeff Portelance, chair of the Greater Sudbury Development Corporation, said the board would be "happy to consider additional contributions for capital investments that may be required to prepare the city's leisure and sports facilities" for the hosting opportunity.

The opportunity to host the games enhances Greater Sudbury's hosting resume, and strengthens the region's sports tourism portfolio to bid on more and larger events going forward, according to the support letter.

In a statement, the City of Greater Sudbury says the report to the committee is a signal of interest to host the games, but no decisions have been made at this point.

"Our exploration and any subsequent actions will depend on provincial support. We will update the public and the media once advances in the process have been made," said the statement.

Sports in the Ontario 55+ games include cycling, tennis, swimming, predictive walking, carpet bowling, shuffleboard, pickleball and slo-pitch. Other programming also includes bowling, cards, bocce, pool, darts and golf.