The 2015 Canada Winter Games has won a pair of Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance PRESTIGE Awards – the Sustainable Sport Event of the Year and the Canadian Sport Event of the Year.

For two weeks in February, young athletes from across the country converged in Prince George for the 2015 Canada Winter Games for the largest multi-sport and cultural event ever held in Northern B.C.

UNBC’s contribution to the Sustainable Sport Event of the Year Award

The 2015 Games Host Society created a sustainability strategy to address such core environmental impacts as: reducing the amount of waste and diverting waste from landfill, being energy efficient and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

At UNBC that meant hiring a sustainability manager – Emily Harrison – to identify and support sustainable initiatives for the 2015 Games. The position was developed thanks to support from a number of stakeholders, including UNBC, Integris Credit Union, the Fraser Basin Council, the Province of B.C. – Climate Action Secretariat, Prince George Community Forest, the City of Prince George and the 2015 Canada Winter Games.

The UNBC Sustainability Committee oversaw a group of UNBC students who raised more than $37,000 to support the provision of free public transit in Prince George during the 2015 Games.

The UNBC Students Pave the Way committee members approached business and other organizations in the region, encouraging them to sponsor free transit for the two weeks during the 2015 Games from Feb. 12 to March 1. This encouraged more people to take the bus, reducing pollutants and contributing to better air quality in Prince George by taking cars off the road.

The new 2015 Canada Winter Games UNBC Tuition credit provided qualified athletes and officials with a tuition credit worth $2,500 over the course of two semesters. The credit gave athletes and officials an incentive to return to the region to attend university.

The FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 and the Toronto 2015 Pan Am / Parapan Am Games were the other finalists in the Sustainable Sport Event of the Year.
UNBC’s contribution to the Canadian Sport Event of the Year Award.

UNBC’s Charles Jago Northern Sport Centre was host to the most sports at any venue: judo, gymnastics, archery, squash and badminton. The outdoor Agora Courtyard hosted the Closing Ceremony, the first time a Winter Games Closing Ceremony was held outdoors.

A total of 124,750 people attended the Games at the various sports venues and another 57,500 at the Festival Site. The $2 million in upgrades to facilities has provided Prince George with enhanced sport hosting capacity.

The 2015 Games was up against the Canadian Tire National Figure Skating Championships in Kingston, Ont. and the 103rd Grey Cup Festival in Winnipeg for the Sport Event of the Year.