Canada Summer Games 2022 dates announced
The Canada Summer Games in Niagara have been officially rescheduled for Aug. 6-21, 2022.
These new dates were identified after consultation with each provincial/territorial team, National Sport Organizations (NSOs), sport/non-sport venues and all levels of government.
Originally, the Games were scheduled to take place on the same dates in 2021 before they were recently postponed to the summer of 2022 due to continued public health concerns relating to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The new dates mean Niagara 2022’s Opening Ceremony will now take place on Saturday, Aug. 6, 2022 at Meridian Centre, while the Games’ Closing Ceremony will fall on Sunday, Aug. 21, 2022 at Queen Victoria Park in Niagara Falls.
“It allows us to move forward to reserve the venues, to reserve the village. It allows a lot of our partners to make the plans to guarantee our access to different things during the summer of 2022 and also enable them to move on with plans for other times in the summer,” said Doug Hamilton, Chair of the Niagara Host Society. “We would like to thank all of our funding partners, including the Niagara Region, Province of Ontario and Federal Government, for their continued support. We look forward to celebrating Canada’s largest multi-sport event in Niagara in August of 2022.
Hamilton felt mid August was the perfect time.
“A lot of the sports have national championships in July and a lot of the provincial teams have trials in June and July so it’s traditional to have it a little later in the summer,” he said. “We tried to stay away from the last week of August because a lot of the athletes are going back to university in the States or Canada or their university teams and we tried to stay away from the August long weekend.”
The CGC continues to work with sport partners to determine athlete eligibility rules for the Niagara 2022 Canada Summer Games. A resolution for each sport is expected to be announced by early 2021.
“As we now look forward to Niagara 2022, we remain fully committed to supporting Canadian athletes and our amateur sport community,” said Evan Johnston, Chair of the Canada Games Council Board. “Providing some clarity on athlete eligibility rules for these 2022 Games remains a top priority for us. We expect to have clear answers for all athletes and their families early in the New Year.”
“We know this is an especially tough time for athletes, for coaches and for all sports organizations,” added the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, Minister of Canadian Heritage. “That is why the Government of Canada is proud to support organizations like the Canada Games Council and the Niagara Host Society, who are working hard to adapt to these circumstances. Canadians stand with the sports community. We will be there to celebrate your accomplishments again because you will be a vital part of what brings us all back together.”
Niagara’s Regional Chair Jim Bradley feels the decision is in the best interests of everyone.
“With the announcement of these new dates, I am more confident than ever that Niagara will be able to host the Games the way we envisioned by providing a world-class experience for the athletes, coaches and the thousands of spectators who will visit our beautiful region,” Bradley said. “The new August 6-21, 2022 schedule will allow Niagara to reap the maximum economic benefits out of this important event, while keeping everyone safe and healthy. I want to thank the federal and provincial government for their unwavering support for the 2022 Canada Summer Games in Niagara.”
Hamilton indicated 17 of 37 full-time staff have been laid off as a result of the postponement.
“We had to take a step back and take a look at our staffing needs for two years instead of one year and we’ll have to extend all of our contracts for another year,” he said. “You ramp up your staff as you get closer to the games. We’ve really taken our staff level back to the level it was a year ago when we were two years out from the Games. Now that we’re again two years out we’ve gone back to that level of staffing.”
Canada Games Park is unaffected by the layoffs or postponement.
“The good news is the infrastructure projects are all going full speed,” he said. “Those are going to be done well before the Games so that’s good. We’re all eager to have that two weeks happening but the other parts of the project are happening.”
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