Vancouver is moving forward in the race for the 2030 Winter Games. At its own pace, without fear of falling behind its two rivals, Sapporo and Salt Lake City. The carriers of the project of British Columbia revealed for the first time, Friday, July 8, the figures of the provisional budget. According to a report by the team in charge of a feasibility study, the 2030 Winter Games in Vancouver would cost between 3.5 and 4 billion Canadian dollars (2.7 to 3.09 billion US dollars). Not surprisingly, the costs would be shared between the public sector, for construction and sustainable infrastructure, and the private sector for the organization of the Games. It would cost the public authorities between 1 and 1.2 billion Canadian dollars (773 to 927 million U.S. dollars) for equipment, the construction of an athletes’ village and security. The rest, estimated at between 2.4 and 2.8 billion Canadian dollars (1.93 and 2.16 billion U.S. dollars), would be financed by the IOC subsidy and revenues from marketing, ticketing and the sale of merchandise. The next step is to have the budget validated by the municipal councils of the cities involved. This should happen in the coming weeks, at the latest by the end of August. The federal and provincial governments will then have to approve the projected accounts for Vancouver 2030, probably between October and November. The bid team will then be able to make a more formal presentation to the IOC. But the Canadians’ roadmap leaves little room for manoeuvre, as the IOC Executive Board has announced its intention to select one or more preferred candidates as early as next December.
