Canada Summer Games gets $1.2M boost from Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries
Games expected to draw 20,000 visitors and generate $153 million in Economic spinoffs
Winnipeg's fundraising efforts for the 2017 Canada Summer Games has made a "significant leap forward" with a $1.2 million contribution.
The donation, from the Manitoba Liquor and Lotteries, was announced Thursday morning.
Winnipeg will host the Games from July 28 to Aug. 13, 2017.
Featuring 16 sports, over 250 related events and a major cultural festival, the Games will welcome more than 4,000 athletes and coaches. They are expected to attract 20,000 visitors and generate an estimated economic impact of $153 million.
The 2017 event will mark the Games' 50th anniversary and coincide with Canada's 150th birthday.
Winnipeg is the second city in Manitoba to host a summer edition of the Canada Games after Brandon did so in 1997.
Brandon wanted to host the 2017 Games but the city's bid fell through and Winnipeg stepped forward.
Hosting duties for the games — a high-level multi-sport event for amateur athletes that is held every two years in Canada, alternating between the winter and summer events — are rotated among the provinces and it is Manitoba's turn in 2017.
No province has ever forfeited its turn.