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CALGARY — Calgary’s Olympic Oval is getting an upgrade.
The federal and provincial governments are equally splitting a $52-million contribution to the renewal of the speedskating facility built for the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
The federal government also announced Monday an additional $7.67 million for ski racing and snowboard facilities in Quebec, Yukon, Alberta and B.C., as well as a $3-million top-up to the Athletic Assistance Program, which provides Canada’s high-performance athletes monthly cheques to help pay their bills.
“This is not just a good day for Canadian sport or speedskating in Canada. This is a good era of Canadian sport because we’re making the largest investments our country has ever seen in sport from the playground to the podium, from the people and the places and everything in between that sport requires to continue being Canada’s greatest nation-building project,” Secretary of State for Sport Adam van Koeverden said Monday in Calgary.
“The Calgary Olympic Oval has produced an extraordinary and probably immeasurable number of Olympic medals, but also memories, heroes and beyond that, I understand you can fit more than a dozen volleyball courts in there. A lot of kids have learned how to skate here as well.
“It’s a tremendously important asset to our community and our country.”
The oval on the University of Calgary campus was completed in 1987 for $40 million and was the Olympic speedskating venue the following year.
It’s been a community, university and high-performance athletic facility and the home of the national speedskating team for almost four decades.
Canadian speedskaters who trained there have produced 40 Olympic medals, with Catriona Le May Doan, Cindy Klassen, Christine Nesbitt, Clara Hughes, Denny Morrison, Jeremy Wotherspoon, Isabelle Weidemann and Ivanie Blondin among its alumni.
Almost a dozen players on Canada’s Olympic women’s hockey teams, including Hayley Wickenheiser, played club hockey at the oval.
But the oval’s ability to make ice is nearing end of its life because of brine leaks among the 400 aging pipe connections under its large floor.
“People came together to save this facility, and it would not have survived, and speedskating would have had to move out of Calgary,” double Olympic gold medallist Weidemann said.
“The fact that we get to continue the legacy that was grown from the ’88 Olympics, I have chills. I’m really overwhelmed by the community that’s come together to save it.”
A new running track and improved accessibility for people using mobility aids are other oval needs, according to its director Mark Messer.
Fundraising for another $13 million to complete those elements is ongoing, he said, but Monday’s announcement means jackhammers can hit the floor in January of 2028 for what’s expected to be a nine-month replacement.
“We can’t really get at it until January of 2028 to do the floor, but that is a priority,” said Messer, who has worked at the Oval since its inception. “That’s where things are deteriorating rather quickly.
“This 52 (million), that’ll save us. We know now we can do the project.”
The venue’s location on the university campus had made applying for government funding complex because it was considered an educational institution.
But it’s been able to draw $26 million from the federal government’s $51-billion “Build Communities Strong Fund” for projects across the country, as well as matching provincial money.
“This facility is truly a multi-sport facility. We have judo, volleyball, other competitions here,” Alberta Sport Minister Andrew Boitchenko said. “It’s definitely worth investing in and keeping it going.
“We’ve had it here since ’88, and hopefully we’ll have it here another 40, 50 years because having such a beautiful big building where people can come and do all these events and competitions is so important for Calgary, the province and for Canada.”
Added van Koeverden: “I’ve been meeting with Minister Boitchenko for the last year or so. In those engagements, we’ve talked about the most important investments that we are going to collectively make in sport and the Calgary Olympic Oval has been top among those priorities.”
Dubbed “the fastest ice in the world” with help from Calgary’s altitude and dry climate, over 300 speedskating world records have been set in Calgary by Canadian and international skaters.
But Salt Lake City’s younger oval has recently gained the upper hand in the long-standing contest between the two venues for world records.
Calgary’s is the oldest of Canada’s three indoor ovals.
Quebec City’s Centre de Glaces Intact Assurance, which opened in 2021 for $68.7 million, has hosted international speedskating competitions.
The $44-million Pomeroy Sport Centre in Fort St. John, B.C. opened in 2010.
The feds will also invest just over $4 million into snowboard facilities in Quebec, Yukon and Alberta, and $3.65 million into ski racing facilities in Alberta and B.C.
The Athlete Assistance Program, or “carding”, envelope increased to $43 million annually for Olympic and Paralympic athletes, who each currently receive about $2,175 monthly.
About 1,900 athletes in more than 90 sport disciplines are approved for AAP annually.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 27, 2026.
Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press
