Canada Games Explained

See also: List of Canada Games.

Canada Games
Native Name:	Jeux du Canada
Native Name Lang:	fr
Status:	Active
Genre:	Multi-sport event
Frequency:	Biannual
Location:	Various
Country:	Canada
First:	Winter Games Summer Games
Organised:	Canada Games Council

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 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 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Summer

Edition	Year		Competitors	Sports
1	1969	Halifax	715	15
2	1973	New Westminster – Burnaby	1,676	16
3	1977	St. John's	1,709	18
4	1981	Thunder Bay	1,813	18
5	1985	Saint John	2,465	18
6	1989	Saskatoon	2,465	18
7	1993	Kamloops	3,253	17
8	1997	Brandon	3,364	19
9	2001	London	3,487	18
10	2005	Regina	3,511	16
11	2009	Charlottetown-Summerside	3,432	18
13	2013	Sherbrooke	3,361	19
14	2017	Winnipeg	3,382	18
15	2022*	Niagara Region		18
16	2025	St. John's
17	2029	TBD
18	2033	TBD
19	2037	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

Edition	Year				Competitors	Sports
1	1967	Quebec City			557	15
2	1971	Saskatoon			687	17
3	1975	Lethbridge			664	17
4	1979	Brandon			1,962	17
5	1983	Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean			1,900	19
6	1987	Cape Breton			1,995	17
7	1991	Charlottetown			2,304	19
8	1995	Grande Prairie			2,284	21
9	1999	Corner Brook			2,808	21
10	2003	Bathurst-Campbellton			2,606	21
11	2007	Whitehorse			2,678	22
12	2011	Halifax			2,238	20
13	2015	Prince George			2,345	20
14	2019	Red Deer			2,377	20
15	2023	Prince Edward Island			TBD	20
16	2027	Quebec City	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
17	2031	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
18	2035	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD

Host provinces/territories

List of regions ranked by the number of times they hosted the Canada Games
Rank	Province/Territory	Summer	Winter	Total
1		2 (1969, 2037)	2 (1987, 2011)	4
	1 (2013)	3 (1967, 1983, 2031)	4
	3 (1989, 2005, 2033)	1 (1971)	4
4		0	3 (1975, 1995, 2019)	3
	2 (1973, 1993)	1 (2015)	3
	2 (1997, 2017)	1 (1979)	3
	2 (1985, 2029)	1 (2003)	3
	2 (1977, 2025)	1 (1999)	3
	1 (2009)	2 (1991, 2023)	3
	3 (1981, 2001, 2022)	0	3
11		0	1 (2035)	1
	0	1 (2007)	1
13		0	0	0

Map of host cities

All-time medal tables

For Games medal standings see List of Canada Games.

**Gold** ! bgcolor="silver"
Silver	Bronze	Total
1		1297	1092	1013	3402
2		1117	975	932	3024
3		730	809	773	2312
4		505	569	668	1742
5		196	269	348	813
6		172	224	308	704
7		209	211	232	652
8		72	92	165	329
9		20	48	71	139
10		12	21	26	59
11		15	23	19	57
12		7	6	9	22
13		1	0	1	2

Summer Games
Rank	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	763	576	547	1886
2	436	483	468	1387
3	474	465	394	1333
4	232	274	310	816
5	153	145	135	433
6	100	147	181	428
7	60	103	139	302
8	33	45	59	137
9	4	19	26	49
10	5	5	2	12
11	2	1	3	6
12	0	0	0	0
13	1	0	0	1

Winter Games
Rank	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	634	456	431	1521
2	464	457	425	1346
3	238	300	349	887
4	238	265	323	826
5	103	112	155	370
6	95	108	154	357
7	36	42	98	176
8	34	54	81	169
9	15	23	45	83
10	6	16	24	46
11	13	20	16	49
12	7	6	9	22
13	0	0	1	1

Medal leaders by year

Canada Summer Games medal table leaders by year:

1969:
1973:
1977:
1981:
1985:
1989:
1993:
1997:
2001:
2005:
2009:
2013:
2017:
2022:

Canada Winter Games medal table leaders by year:

1967:
1971:
1975:
1979:
1983:
1987:
1991:
1995:
1999:
2003:
2007:
2011:
2015:
2019:

Number of occurrences:

– 16 times (13 Summer; 3 Winter)
– 11 times (11 Winter)
– 1 time (1 Summer)

External links

Official site

Notes and References

Web site: 2023 Canada Games. 2023canadagames.ca. Canada Games Council . en.
Web site: Canada Games Council | 2023 Canada Games Launches Brand and Welcomes Atlantic Lottery as First Major Sponsor.
News: 2021 Niagara Canada Summer Games postponed to 2022. Myrer. George. The Telegram. 17 September 2020. 12 December 2020.
News: Eddie MacCabe: A glimpse it the city's soul. Chwialkowska. Luiza. May 24, 1998. Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario. 7.
Book: MacCabe, Eddie. Eddie MacCabe. Canada Games, 1967 to 1992: The Official Retrospective of the Canada Games. Canada Games Council. 1992. Ottawa, Ontario. 319697919.
Web site: LACROSSE RETURNS TO CANADA GAMES IN 2021. Canada Games Council.
Web site: Volunteer | 2019 Canada Games . 2018-08-13 . 2018-08-14 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180814001647/https://www.canadagames.ca/2019/volunteer . dead .
Web site: New Hosting Rotation Revealed for Canada Games. Canada Games Council. September 29, 2022.
News: 26 October 2020. Canada Summer Games in Niagara rescheduled for August 2022. CBC News. Toronto, Ontario, Canada. 25 February 2022.