Vancouver Loses Support for Multibillion-Dollar Olympic Bid

The list of cities bidding to host the 2030 Winter Olympics and Paralympics has likely narrowed down to two.

Vancouver is expected to be out of the running after Lisa Beare, British Columbia Minister of Tourism, Arts, Culture and Sports, revealed “the Province is declining to support a bid.” She said British Columbia “has been engaged in evaluating a potential bid” for more than a year.

Referencing the Province’s responsibility to “weigh the benefits,” Beare said, “the current bid has an estimated cost of $1.2 billion and $1 billion in additional risk, and when we measure that against our government’s priorities, we believe we need to focus on people.”

• The Indigenous-led effort would reportedly cost nearly $4 billion, with at least $1 billion in public funds.
• Beare also brought up British Columbia’s existing commitments to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2025 Invictus Games.

The Canadian Olympics Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee said they are “taking time to process,” the government’s announcement. 

Olympic Opportunities 

Salt Lake City and Sapporo, Japan, remain in the running to host the Winter Games. The former hosted the Olympics in 2002, and the latter hosted in 1972. In June, Spain withdrew a bid.

Vancouver last hosted in 2010, which cost the B.C. government $925 million.

A final decision isn’t expected until the International Olympic Committee meets in October 2023.