Canada Games

Canada Games, national sporting event held every two years in Canada, both the Winter and Summer Games being held at four-year intervals.

History

The idea of the Canada Games was first suggested in 1924 by Norton Crow, secretary of the Amateur Athletic Union of Canada, but received little support. The idea often resurfaced in the next 25 years but each time met with lukewarm response. In 1962, the chairman of the National Advisory Council on Fitness and Amateur Sports once again suggested a sports festival. A Québec lawyer, André Marceau, took the initiative and, along with other sports authorities in Québec, set up a corporation of the top Canadian winter sports. On 30 May 1965, a financial agreement was signed and the first Canada Winter Games finally came into being.

In 1964, the Canadian Centennial Commission recommended that winter games be held in 1967, and the federal government endorsed the idea. Since then, summer and winter games have been held every four years. Their objectives are to encourage the development of first-rate sports facilities, to train as many young athletes as possible to international standards, to encourage competition in the provinces and territories, and to develop human resources from judges on up to director general of the Games’ organizing groups. At the end of a Canada Games, the Centennial Cup is awarded to the province or territory that makes the greatest improvement from one Games to another.

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American Sports Nicknames

Summer Games

Sports available to Summer Games athletes include track and field, baseball, basketball, canoeing/kayaking, cycling, diving, field hockey, rowing, rugby/football, sailing, soccer, softball, swimming, tennis, volleyball, and wrestling.

Between 1969 and 2013, the Summer Games were hosted by Halifax/Dartmouth, NS (1969); Burnaby, BC (1973); St John’s, NL (1977); Thunder Bay, ON (1981); Saint John, NB (1985); Saskatoon, SK (1989); Kamloops, BC (1993); Brandon, MB (1997); London, ON (2001); Regina, SK (2005); Summerside, PEI (2009); and Sherbrooke, QC (2013).

Winter Games

Various sports, both winter and indoor, are available to Winter Games athletes. These include alpine skiing, archery, artistic gymnastics, badminton, biathlon, boxing, cross-country skiing, curling, fencing, figure skating, freestyle skiing, hockey, judo, ringette, shooting, speed skating, squash, synchronized swimming, tennis, and wheelchair basketball.

Between 1967 and 2015, the Winter Games were hosted by Québec City, QC (1967); Saskatoon, SK (1971); Lethbridge, AB (1975); Brandon, MB (1979); Saguenay, QC (1983); Cape Breton County, NS (1987); Charlottetown, PEI (1991); Grande Prairie, AB (1995); Cornerbrook, NL (1999); Bathurst/Campbellton, NB (2003); Whitehorse, Yukon (2007); Halifax, NS (2011); and Prince George, BC (2015).

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Athletes

To be chosen to compete in the Canada Games, athletes must fulfil specific selection criteria: they must be 12–18 years at the time of competition, placed well in the required provincial qualifying tournaments, and be a member of the national team.

The Canada Games have played an important role in the development of some of Canada’s most successful athletes, including Toller Cranston, Bob Gainey, Sylvie Daigle, Catriona LeMay Doan, Bruny Surin, Annie Pelletier, Hayley Wickenheiser, Marc Gagnon, Steve Nash, Alexandre Despatie, Adam Van Koeverden, Sidney Crosby, Charles Hamelin, Marianne St-Gelais, Steven Stamkos, Mark McMorris, Anthony Bennett, and Nathan Mackinnon.

An earlier version of this entry was published by The Canadian Encyclopedia .