As a result of increasing costs, the Alberta government has withdrawn its support for a bid to host the 2030 Commonwealth Games. The Canadian province was considering a joint candidacy centred on the cities of Edmonton and Calgary.
Tourism and Sport Minister Joseph Schow stated that the estimated bill of C$2.7 billion (£1.5 billion; $2 billion) was a lot for the province to endure. Due to budget overruns, Australia backed out of hosting the 2026 games in Victoria last month.
The original proposal was to host the games for eleven days in August of 2030, with competitions and events taking place in Calgary, Edmonton, the Tsuut'ina Nation, and the Enoch Cree Nation.
Mr. Schow indicated in a statement that the "corporate sponsorship model" and "limited broadcast revenues" would have shifted 93 percent of costs to taxpayers.
He insisted that the government was committed to financing transparency and demonstrating a return on investment.
"Because of this, we have decided not to pursue the candidacy for the Commonwealth Games in 2030."
According to sources, the provincial government of Alberta has committed up to C$2 million (£1.2 million) and the city of Edmonton has committed an additional C$1 million (£590,000) to investigate the viability of hosting the Games.
Before submitting a formal bid, Commonwealth Sport Canada was anticipated to complete a feasibility study this month.
The office of Calgary mayor Jyoti Gondek informed sources that the proposal was dead without provincial support.
The withdrawal of the provincial government from Alberta's 2030 Commonwealth Games proposal procedure effectively ends the bid and Calgary's participation, according to the statement.
The Commonwealth Games are a multi-sport competition held every four years, with the only exception being during World War II.
Athletes must be citizens of one of the Commonwealth's 56 member states in order to compete. Historically, the majority of Commonwealth countries were a part of the British Empire.
The city of Hamilton, Ontario, which hosted the inaugural Olympic Games in 1930, suspended its candidacy earlier this year after failing to secure government support.
Premier of Victoria Daniel Andrews stated on July 18 that the 2026 event was expected to be a massive boost for the regional communities hosting it, at a cost of A$2.6 billion (£1.4 billion; $1.8 billion).
However, he mentioned that the cost of hosting the 12-day games had risen to over A$6 billion.
Mr. Andrews explained that in this position he has made a large number of calls and decisions, however, this was not one of them.
The Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) referred to Victoria's decision as "extremely distressing" and stated that it was "committed to finding a solution."
The First Minister of Scotland, Humza Yousaf, has expressed his willingness to contemplate hosting at least a portion of the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Scotland.
In 2014, Glasgow hosted the event, which according to government estimates cost approximately £543m ($691m). Sadiq Khan, the mayor of London, has stated that he would support a bid for the city to host in 2026, but that any ultimate decision must be made by the government.
