The City of Calgary

The City will own Scotia Place and surrounding facilities. This development supports the overall vision of Calgary’s Culture + Entertainment District, which includes a modern entertainment facility. It complements the long standing agricultural, convention and sports venues; while supporting the emerging cultural, arts and education facilities, and future residential, hotel, entertainment, and retail redevelopments. It will be designed as a gathering place for all Calgarians and visitors. 

The City has been significantly investing in Calgary’s downtown for the past 10 years, which has intensified since the Downtown Strategy was approved in 2019. The recent focus has been implementing the Greater Downtown Plan through the Downtown Strategy, which includes incentive programs to begin reversing the high office vacancies and activating public spaces to encourage more people to visit and enjoy our downtown and its businesses.

The City’s investment has also supported new infrastructure and amenities in The Culture + Entertainment District, which includes BMO Centre expansion, Green Line LRT route and station, an extension of 17^th Avenue S.E. and rebuild of Victoria Park/Stampede Station, Stampede Trail, and nearby improvements to 9 Avenue S.E. bridge.

Calgary Sports and Entertainment

CSEC will operate and maintain Scotia Place over a 35-year term, which includes an annual lease payment made to The City to use the facilities.

As part of the agreement, the Calgary Flames NHL franchise remains in Calgary for at least 35 more years and will provide additional annual funding to community sports, during that time.

The Province of Alberta

The Province is providing funding for infrastructure improvements in the Culture + Entertainment District, as well as half of the community rink. These improvements include the 6 Street S.E. underpass, public gathering spaces, and upgrades to streets, sidewalks, and accesses to the area.

This Provincial support is consistent with other significant investments that they’ve made in the Culture + Entertainment District, since 2007; specifically, through the formation of the Rivers District Community Revitalization Levy (CRL), which is an innovative funding source for new infrastructure and amenities throughout the area.

Most recently, the Province contributed funding through the CRL for the BMO Centre expansion, which will become the largest convention centre in western Canada. They are also funding 1/3 of the Green Line LRT program, which includes a station within the Culture + Entertainment District. The Province continues to support the Calgary Stampede – a long-standing Calgary institution and international attraction. 

The Calgary Stampede

Calgary Stampede enabled land transactions that increased the size of Scotia Place by almost 40%. They also made land available for future redevelopment opportunities, in exchange for land that they would require for their annual exhibition. As part of the agreement, The City will now own and control the roadways to better coordinate traffic and move people during events.

Calgary Municipal Land Corporation

Calgary Municipal Land Corporation (CMLC) is leading the master plan vision for The Culture + Entertainment District. In 2018, CMLC and Calgary Stampede unveiled a 20-year master-plan vision (the Rivers District Master Plan) to transform east Victoria Park into Calgary’s Culture + Entertainment District. To set the stage for the rise of The C+E, CMLC has invested more than $600 million into foundational infrastructure and city-building projects to enhance the existing urban fabric and begin reshaping the district into a vibrant, connected and resilient community with enhanced connections to adjacent neighbourhoods. In addition, as District Construction Coordinator, CMLC supports the coordination of the many exciting developments underway in The C+E to ensure access is maintained at all times for the many Calgarians and visitors who visit the BMO Centre and Scotiabank Saddledome. CMLC and The City will collaborate on the Culture + Entertainment District improvements to make sure the whole area has the required infrastructure to support Scotia Place and the future development.

Financial contributions and The City’s return

The agreements outline three streams of funding that The City will receive from CSEC over the 35 year term:

The City benefits from event revenues

All revenues streams, which include ticket surcharge and naming rights, within Scotia Place, are consolidated into one committed and predictable lease payment to The City - $17 million per year for 35 years. The lease payment escalates by 1% per year over 35 years.

Once the 35-year term is completed, CSEC will have contributed $748.3 million.

This approach means CSEC assumes the operations and revenue risk, in exchange for any potential upside returns. It minimizes risk to The City that’s associated with being exposed to multiple variable and unpredictable revenue streams over a longer 35-year term.