Major Games

Arctic Winter Games

The Arctic Winter Games emerged from an idea in 1967 of then Commissioners James Smith of the Yukon and Steward Hodgson of the Northwest Territories who watched their athletes struggle against southern counterparts at the Canada Winter Games. Smith and Hodgson enticed Alaska Governor Walter Hickel to join this northern circumpolar sporting and cultural event, with a goal of offering appropriate levels of competition for northern athletes who had limited access to facilities and training opportunities.

The first set of Games were staged in Yellowknife, NWT in 1970 and officially opened by former Prime Minister of Canada, Pierre Elliott Trudeau. The Games were a huge success with some 500 athletes competing from Alaska, Yukon and Northwest Territories. The AWG are held every two years and now include representation from Yukon, Alaska, Northern Alberta, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Greenland, Nunavik, the three Russian provinces of Magadan, Sami and Yamai.

The underlying philosophy of the Games is to involve as many athletes as possible either at the Games or in team trials, and to promote a forum of competition for those other than elite athletes with competitive opportunities in the south. The Arctic Winter Games symbolize athletic competition, cultural exhibition and social interchange.

Arctic Winter Games
AWG International Committee

Arctic Winter Games
AWG Yellowknife Host Society

Canada Games

The first Canada Games took place in Quebec City in the winter of 1967 to coincide with the celebrations of the 100th Anniversary of Canadian Confederation. Since then, the Canada Games have been held at two-year intervals - alternating between winter and summer. In their 40 year history, the Canada Games has been hosted by each of the ten provinces at least once, and in 2007 the Yukon was the first Territory to host the Games north of the sixtieth parallel.

Over 50,000 athletes have participated in the Canada Games since 1967 and another 185,000 have been involved in try-outs and qualifying events. The games are targeted at developing athletes representing the provinces' and territories' as top athletes in their age class. The Canada Games have been proven to jump-start many athletic careers. In fact, in the last Olympics, one-third of the Canadian athletes had been a previous Canada Games participant.

Canada Games
Canada Games Council

Western Canada Summer Games

In 1973 an idea was born to create a multi-sport event that would offer Western Canadian athletes an opportunity to test their skills in Olympic standard competitions, improve sport facilities in Western Canada, foster volunteerism and provide for high quality sport events. The Western Canada Summer Games were developed for the young athlete who is pursuing a competitive career at territorial, provincial, national and international levels. Approximately 2,400 participants take part every four years, from the four western provinces and three territories. Regina, SK hosted the first Western Canada Summer Games in 1975.