[sureLoss]

News Update

Feds promise up to $1.75 billion

https://calgaryherald.com/news/polit...for-2026-games

The federal cabinet has authorized Olympic spending of up to $1.75 billion for Calgary’s 2026 Olympics, if the city bids for the Games and wins.

The amount was voted on this week, according to a federal source authorized to speak on the matter and interviewed by Postmedia on Friday.

The $1.75 billion is much higher than most people involved in the bid expected from Ottawa.

Some officials involved with the file thought the feds would specifically match the announced provincial and city pledges combined, which won’t likely top $1.2 billion. In that case, the three-party total would have fallen far short of the $3 billion in public funding said to be ideal for the Games.

However, Ottawa now offers the incentive of a much bigger cash envelope — on two conditions.

First, the province and city would have to raise their spending to get the matching money up to $1.75 billion.

So far, the Notley government has pledged $700 million. The city contribution is expected to be less than $500 million.

That total — somewhere around $1.2 billion — is less than necessary to secure matching for the $3 billion target.

Now, both the province and city hall have to decide whether to up their ante to take advantage of the federal offer that could actually enable total public spending above $3 billion.

The second condition, the federal source said, is that the $1.75 billion commitment will be cancelled if Calgarians reject the Olympic bid in the plebiscite set for Nov. 13.