Canada 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.

Canada Games Jeux du Canada
Opening ceremonies 2017 Canada Summer Games
Status	Active
Genre	Multi-sport event
Frequency	Biannual
Location(s)	Various
Country	Canada
Inaugurated	Winter Games 1967; 57 years ago (1967) Summer Games 1969; 55 years ago (1969)
Organised by	Canada Games Council
Website	canadagames.ca

The first ever 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. 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 ever 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. 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.

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.

Facility development

 

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.

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.

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

Summer

Edition	Year	Host City	Host Province/Territory	Start Date	End Date	Competitors	Sports	Canada Games flag
1	1969	Halifax	Nova Scotia	August 16	August 24	715	15	Ontario
2	1973	New Westminster – Burnaby	British Columbia	August 3	August 12	1,676	16	British Columbia
3	1977	St. John's	Newfoundland and Labrador	August 7	August 19	1,709	18	Ontario
4	1981	Thunder Bay	Ontario	August 9	August 22	1,813	18	Ontario
5	1985	Saint John	New Brunswick	August 11	August 24	2,465	18	Ontario
6	1989	Saskatoon	Saskatchewan	August 8	August 21	2,465	18	Ontario
7	1993	Kamloops	British Columbia	August 6	August 22	3,253	17	Ontario
8	1997	Brandon	Manitoba	August 9	August 23	3,364	19	Ontario
9	2001	London	Ontario	August 10	August 25	3,487	18	Ontario
10	2005	Regina	Saskatchewan	August 6	August 20	3,511	16	Ontario
11	2009	Charlottetown-Summerside	Prince Edward Island	August 15	August 29	3,432	18	Ontario
13	2013	Sherbrooke	Quebec	August 2	August 17	3,361	19	Ontario
14	2017	Winnipeg	Manitoba	July 28	August 13	3,382	18	Ontario
15	2022*	Niagara Region	Ontario	August 6	August 21		18	Ontario
16	2025	St. John's	Newfoundland and Labrador	August 8	August 24
17	2029	TBD	New Brunswick	TBD	TBD
18	2033	TBD	Saskatchewan	TBD	TBD
19	2037	TBD	Nova Scotia	TBD	TBD

• The 2022 Canada Games were scheduled to be held in 2021, but were rescheduled to 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Winter

Edition	Year	Host City	Host Province/Territory	Start Date	End Date	Competitors	Sports	Canada Games flag
1	1967	Quebec City	Quebec	February 11	February 19	557	15	Ontario
2	1971	Saskatoon	Saskatchewan	February 11	February 22	687	17	Ontario
3	1975	Lethbridge	Alberta	February 11	February 23	664	17	Quebec
4	1979	Brandon	Manitoba	February 12	February 24	1,962	17	Quebec
5	1983	Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean	Quebec	February 17	March 2	1,900	19	Ontario
6	1987	Cape Breton	Nova Scotia	February 14	February 28	1,995	17	Ontario
7	1991	Charlottetown	Prince Edward Island	February 17	March 2	2,304	19	Ontario
8	1995	Grande Prairie	Alberta	February 19	March 4	2,284	21	Ontario
9	1999	Corner Brook	Newfoundland and Labrador	February 20	March 6	2,808	21	Ontario
10	2003	Bathurst-Campbellton	New Brunswick	February 22	March 8	2,606	21	Quebec
11	2007	Whitehorse	Yukon	February 23	March 10	2,678	22	Ontario
12	2011	Halifax	Nova Scotia	February 11	February 27	2,238	20	Ontario
13	2015	Prince George	British Columbia	February 13	March 1	2,345	20	Ontario
14	2019	Red Deer	Alberta	February 17	March 3	2,377	20	Quebec
15	2023	Prince Edward Island	Prince Edward Island	February 18	March 5	TBD	20	Quebec
16	2027	Quebec City	Quebec	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
17	2031	TBD	Quebec	TBD	TBD	TBD	TBD
18	2035	TBD	Northwest Territories	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	Nova Scotia	2 (1969, 2037)	2 (1987, 2011)	4
	Quebec	1 (2013)	3 (1967, 1983, 2031)	4
	Saskatchewan	3 (1989, 2005, 2033)	1 (1971)	4
4	Alberta	0	3 (1975, 1995, 2019)	3
	British Columbia	2 (1973, 1993)	1 (2015)	3
	Manitoba	2 (1997, 2017)	1 (1979)	3
	New Brunswick	2 (1985, 2029)	1 (2003)	3
	Newfoundland and Labrador	2 (1977, 2025)	1 (1999)	3
	Prince Edward Island	1 (2009)	2 (1991, 2023)	3
	Ontario	3 (1981, 2001, 2022)	0	3
11	Northwest Territories	0	1 (2035)	1
	Yukon	0	1 (2007)	1
13	Nunavut	0	0	0

Map of host cities

 

 

1967

 

1969,2011

 

1971,1989

 

1973

 

1975

 

1977, 2025

 

1979,1997

 

1981

 

1983

 

1985

 

1987

 

1991, 2009, 2023

 

1993

 

1995

 

1999

 

2001

 

2003

 

2005

 

2007

 

2013

 

2015

 

2017

 

2019

 

2022

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Host cities of Canada Games

For Games medal standings see List of Canada Games.

As of the 2022 Canada Games

Rank	Province/Territory	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Ontario	1297	1092	1013	3402
2	Quebec	1117	975	932	3024
3	British Columbia	730	809	773	2312
4	Alberta	505	569	668	1742
5	Saskatchewan	196	269	348	813
6	Manitoba	172	224	308	704
7	Nova Scotia	209	211	232	652
8	New Brunswick	72	92	165	329
9	Newfoundland and Labrador	20	48	71	139
10	Prince Edward Island	12	21	26	59
11	Yukon	15	23	19	57
12	Northwest Territories	7	6	9	22
13	Nunavut	1	0	1	2

Summer Games

Rank	Province/territory	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Ontario	763	576	547	1886
2	Quebec	436	483	468	1387
3	British Columbia	474	465	394	1333
4	Alberta	232	274	310	816
5	Nova Scotia	153	145	135	433
6	Saskatchewan	100	147	181	428
7	Manitoba	60	103	139	302
8	New Brunswick	33	45	59	137
9	Newfoundland and Labrador	4	19	26	49
10	Prince Edward Island	5	5	2	12
11	Yukon	2	1	3	6
12	Northwest Territories	0	0	0	0
13	Nunavut	1	0	0	1

Winter Games

Rank	Province/territory	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Quebec	634	456	431	1521
2	Ontario	464	457	425	1346
3	British Columbia	238	300	349	887
4	Alberta	238	265	323	826
5	Manitoba	103	112	155	370
6	Saskatchewan	95	108	154	357
7	New Brunswick	36	42	98	176
8	Nova Scotia	34	54	81	169
9	Newfoundland and Labrador	15	23	45	83
10	Prince Edward Island	6	16	24	46
11	Yukon	13	20	16	49
12	Northwest Territories	7	6	9	22
13	Nunavut	0	0	1	1

Medal leaders by year

Canada Summer Games medal table leaders by year:

Canada Winter Games medal table leaders by year:

Number of occurrences:

•   Ontario – 16 times (13 Summer; 3 Winter)
•   Quebec – 11 times (11 Winter)
•   British Columbia – 1 time (1 Summer)

• BC Games
  • BC Summer Games
  • BC Winter Games
• Western Canada Summer Games
• Alberta Winter Games
• Saskatchewan Games
  • Saskatchewan Summer Games
  • Saskatchewan Winter Games
• Manitoba Games
• Ontario Games
• Quebec Games