Victoria bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games

The Victoria bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games is a cancelled bid by Victoria, British Columbia, Canada and Commonwealth Games Canada to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games.^[1] On 24 August 2017 Victoria withdrew its bid to host the 2022 Commonwealth Games, leaving only Birmingham and Liverpool in the race.

Victoria bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games

Host city	Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Motto	Back to the Future
Website	www.2022victoria.com

Background

On 30 June 2017, Victoria officially announced its bid to host the games.^[2] Bid committee chair David Black announced the bid was submitted with letters of support from the provincial government, local municipalities and the University of Victoria. Lisa Helps, the mayor of Victoria, revealed on 30 April 2017 that the City of Victoria was exploring a possible bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games. Victoria last hosted the 1994 Commonwealth Games.^[3] Vancouver, which is also in British Columbia, hosted the 1954 Commonwealth Games and 2010 Winter Olympic Games and Paralympic Games.

On 24 August 2017 B.C. Finance Minister Carole James announced in a statement that the province won't contribute funding to a 2022 Commonwealth Games bid because there were too many uncertainties. She cited question marks surrounding the bid, including revenue commitments, venue locations, costs for security – which weren’t including in the bid committee’s cost estimate – and any added costs like transit, infrastructure and health services for athletes. The government agreed, with James saying they were dealing with too many other crises including one of B.C’s worst wildfire seasons in history. James suggested to bid for the 2030 Commonwealth Games.^[4]

Cost

The total cost of the Victoria 2022 Commonwealth Games was anticipated to be in the region of $955 million with $400 million expected to come from the Government of Canada, $400 million from the province, $25 million from local municipalities and $130 million from sponsorship deals to pay for the Games.^[5]

Venues

Following were the venues proposed for the games:^[6]

Save-on-Foods Memorial Centre

BC Place at Vancouver, British Columbia

Richmond Oval at Richmond, British Columbia

Venues in Victoria

Venue	Sport	Status
Regional Stadium in the West Shore	Ceremonies Athletics	New
Gymnastics Arena	Gymnastics	New
Beach Volleyball Court	Beach Volleyball	Temporary
Saanich Commonwealth Place	Swimming	Existing
Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre	Boxing	Existing
Q Centre	Judo Wrestling	Existing
University of Victoria’s CARSA Gym	Netball	Existing
University of Victoria	Field Hockey	Existing
Bear Mountain	Mountain biking	Existing
Elk Lake	Triathlon	Existing
Juan de Fuca	Lawn bowling	Existing

Venues outside Victoria

Venue	Sport	Status
B.C. Place	Rugby sevens	Existing
Richmond Oval	Badminton Table Tennis	Existing

See also

Commonwealth Games celebrated in Canada

• 1930 Commonwealth Games at Hamilton
• 1954 Commonwealth Games at Vancouver
• 1978 Commonwealth Games at Edmonton
• 1994 Commonwealth Games at Victoria

References

1. "Victoria announces bid for 2022 Commonwealth Games". CBC News. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
2. VAN REEUWYK, CHRISTINE. "Victoria bid to host 2022 Commonwealth Games goes in today". Victoria News. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
3. Dheensaw, Cleve. "Commonwealth Games returning? Victoria may be in bid for 2022". Times Colonist. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
4. "'The dream is over': Victoria's 2022 Commonwealth Games bid tanked by province". Vancouver Island. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 25 August 2017.
5. "2022 Commonwealth Games in Victoria would cost $955M, bid group says". Vancouver Island. 16 August 2017. Retrieved 17 August 2017.
6. Ogden, Alistair (17 August 2017). "5 things to know about Victoria's 2022 Commonwealth Games bid". Victoria Buzz. Retrieved 21 August 2017.