Local news delivered daily to your email inbox. Subscribe for FREE to the rdnewsNOW newsletter.

2019 Canada Winter Games torch relay to be largest ever

Mar 27, 2018 | 3:09 PM

The torch relay for the 2019 Canada Winter Games will be the largest in Games history.

The 40-stop tour sponsored by new national partner MNP was announced Tuesday at the Enmax Centrium.

It will begin at the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill in Ottawa this fall before culminating February 25 at the opening ceremony for the 2019 Games.

“It was a natural fit for us to bring the torch to as many communities and Canadians as we can, as we all celebrate a national event,” said Randy Mowat, Senior VP Marketing , MNP at the Enmax Centrium on Tuesday.  “We are proud to be supporting the torch relay and know our team members from across the country will be cheering all the way.”

Games Board Chair Lyn Radford added that this has been part of the host society’s vision for some time.

“The 2019 Canada Winter Games will be the biggest event in the history of central Alberta and now with MNP’s assistance, the spirit of our games and the Canada Games movement will inspire and engage communities right across this nation for the first ever national torch relay,” she said. “It will truly embody the principle upon which the Canada Games were founded in 1967 — unity through sport.”

Additional stops will be announced later this year. Among those announced are Halifax, Montreal, London, Niagara region, Thunder Bay, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Lloydminster, Prince George, Victoria, Kelowna, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Calgary, Edmonton and Grande Prairie, as well as several local communities.

More information is available at CanadaGames.ca and organizers say details about nominating someone to be a torchbearer will be available this summer.