What a Calgary-Edmonton jointly hosted Winter Olympics could look like

It appears the province of Alberta is at least exploring the possibility of a bid for the 2038 Winter Olympics.

Calgary mayor Jeromy Farkas sounded open to the idea while speaking at Calgary Economic Development’s 2026 Report to the Community on Wednesday.

“I think we’d be crazy not to at least consider it,” Farkas said. “There’s a strong business case for potentially pursuing a 50th anniversary bid.”

Less than 24 hours later, Alberta Premier Danielle Smith echoed similar sentiments, even outlining what such a bid could look like.

“Maybe if we have an integrated rail system, fully developed mountain resorts, and new arenas in Calgary and Edmonton, plus quick flights to Vancouver to use facilities for events like bobsleigh and ski jumping,” Smith said.

However it might be structured, there’s no denying that both Calgary and Edmonton already have significant infrastructure in place to support a bid. That said, there may still be a few more facilities that would need to be constructed.

A potential Alberta-hosted Olympics could mirror the model used at Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, where events were split between Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo—cities roughly five hours apart by car. Calgary and Edmonton, by comparison, are only about three hours apart.

Starting off would be figuring out locations for the opening and closing ceremonies. Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium would be a great host for the opening ceremony, while a potential new home of the Calgary Stampeders could hold the closing.

City of Edmonton

Taking a blueprint from Milano Cortina 2026, there will need to be two large arenas. They chose to use one for hockey and the other for figure skating and short-track speed skating. That doesn’t necessarily need to be the case in these potential 2038 Games.

Both Edmonton and Calgary could host hockey games — preliminary stages and finals — at Rogers Place and Scotia Place. After that is where things get a little more interesting.

Sergei Belski/Imagn Images

Back when Calgary was putting together a draft concept of hosting the 2026 Olympics, they outlined that the Foothills Multisport Fieldhouse — which still needs to be built — would host figure skating and short-track speed skating. Having a venue like this would allow both Rogers and Scotia Place to focus specifically on hosting men’s and women’s hockey.

Mountain events such as downhill skiing could return to the Kananaskis region, much like the 1988 Winter Olympics, which utilized Nakiska Ski Area. The Canmore Nordic Centre could once again host cross-country skiing and biathlon.

Another option for the mountain events could include Jasper. It’s a further drive from Edmonton than Kananaskis is from Calgary, but it would help spread tourism throughout the province.

Calgary’s WinSport remains suitable for freestyle skiing and snowboarding, though its bobsleigh, luge, and skeleton track has since been removed, as have its ski jumping facilities —hence Smith’s idea of using facilities in Whistler.

Calgary Olympic Park/Shutterstock

Long-track speed skating could return to the Olympic Oval, which remains a world-class training facility. That then leaves curling, which could be another challenge.

Curling was hosted at the Max Bell Centre back in 1988. While it could technically be used again, it’s quite outdated, even with renovations being made back in 2022. One can’t help but wonder if a new facility could be built in either Edmonton or Calgary that would be better suited to host Olympic curling.

There are still significant hurdles to clear before a bid becomes reality, but the discussion serves as another reminder of the major international events Calgary and Edmonton are capable of hosting—thanks in large part to their modern, high-end venues.

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