Nanaimo has extensive experience hosting events large and small all with the flavour of the West Coast.

Nanaimo is proud to welcome sport and parasport events from across BC, Canada and internationally. We as a community have seen first-hand the importance of sport, recreationally and competitively, and are home to more than 40 amateur sport organizations. From cyclo-cross to dragonboat and lacrosse to basketball, sport is part of the fabric of this community.

With a bustling student body at Vancouver Island University, a supportive community of volunteers, strategic community investments and grants, and a “make it happen” group of community partners and hoteliers, we are committed to the success of your event.

Getting here is easy! Nanaimo is a city nestled conveniently in the centre of beautiful Vancouver Island, a quick drive from Victoria and a stone’s throw from Vancouver and Seattle, it is an idyllic setting for the adventurer and competitor in all of us. With one of the longest shorelines in Canada, a forested mountain backdrop within minutes of the downtown core, and a temperate year-round climate, the potential to deliver memorable sport and parasport events, large and small, local and international, all with a flavour of the West Coast in Nanaimo is promising.


Hosting an Event

The secret is out; Nanaimo is a great place to host events. Nanaimo has declared sport one of the City’s top priorities, demonstrated by the ongoing investment in facility build and upgrade, including the Nanaimo Ice Centre, Third Street Sports Zone / Serauxmen Stadium, Oliver Woods Community Centre, Beban Park Complex and the Stevie Smith Bike Park, and the Nanaimo Aquatic Centre.

Nanaimo is an active community with a diverse selection of indoor and outdoor sporting venues for both para- and able-bodied sport, including:

  • Full double gymnasiums with sprung flooring systems
  • FIFA regulation-sized soccer pitches
  • Four (4) NHL regulation-sized ice rinks, one with 2,000-seat capacity
  • Fully-lit WBSC-regulation baseball diamond
  • 3-acre UCI-certified pump track and skills park for BMX and cyclocross
  • Track & Field facility with straightaway track parallel to oval (only one in Canada)
  • 380+ mountain bike and hiking trails covering hundreds of kilometres

The community has exceptional hosting experience including:

  • BC Summer Games
  • BC Senior Games
  • Canadian College Athletic Basketball Championships
  • Canadian College Athletic Golf Championships
  • U-17 World Hockey Challenge
  • BC Athletics Championships
  • Nanaimo Dragon Boat Festival
  • Rogers Hometown Hockey
  • ABA BMX World Championships
  • Red Bull Pump Track World Championship – Canadian Qualifier

For more information contact:

Gina Bethell, Destination Sales Manager at Tourism Nanaimo
gina@tourismnanaimo.com
250-816-2856


Nanaimo Hospitality Sporting Events Grant – Nanaimo Hospitality Association

The primary objective of the Nanaimo Hospitality Sporting Event Grant is to increase the number of multi-day sporting events held in Nanaimo. The grant aims to support new sporting events, or annual events that are hoping to increase their attendance by improving, expanding, or extending the number of days the event takes place, which will ultimately increase the number of visitors staying overnight in local paid accommodation.

Please visit the Nanaimo Hospitality Association website for more information about their grants program or email grants@nanaimohospitality.ca.

* Sport tourism is defined as any activity in which people are attracted to a particular location as a sport event participant, an event spectator, or to attend sport attractions or sport-related business meetings. Sport tourism visitors travel more than 80 km to reach the host community and/or stay overnight.