A year ago, when oil was selling for more than $100 a barrel, Alberta pledged to come up with most of the $1-billion needed to bring the 2022 Commonwealth Games to Edmonton. On Tuesday, with oil at just over $50, the city said the province had withdrawn its offer.

Edmonton will now be seeking a bid for the 2026 Games.

By moving the bid for the Commonwealth Games forward by four years, organizers hope Alberta's economy will have had time to rebound from a situation that is only expected to worsen over the course of the coming year.

Story continues below advertisement

The sharp decline in the oil price since last summer has left Alberta's provincial government with a deficit that it says could reach up to $7-billion over the next year.

"We started this bid 11 months ago when oil was over $100 a barrel. Oil is now quite a bit less. That fiscal reality has hit home," said bid chair Reg Milley.

Mayor Don Iveson said Tuesday that the province warned the city that it couldn't cover $800-million of the $1 billion needed to stage the Games.

A CIBC report released last week indicated that the bank expects Alberta's economy will contract in 2015 and that the provincial unemployment rate will jump from 4.7 per cent to 6.8 per cent. The housing markets in both Calgary and Edmonton have been weak so far in 2015, with rising concerns that both could experience downturns.

According to Edmonton city manager Simon Farbrother, who was also the bid vice-chair, Edmontonians who volunteered in the 1978 Commonwealth Games had already expressed interest in helping again.

The history of the Commonwealth Games still looms large in Edmonton. The home of the Canadian Football League's Edmonton Eskimos is Commonwealth Stadium and the city's light rail transit system was opened in time for the Games.

One of North America's fastest growing cities, Edmonton officials had hoped to use the Games as an opportunity to revamp infrastructure to keep up with a population that has nearly doubled since the Commonwealth Games were first held in the city 37 years ago.

Story continues below advertisement

Culture and Tourism Minister Maureen Kubinec said in a statement that Alberta was "simply not in a position to financially support the costs associated with not only a bid, but with further costs beyond the bidding process."

In the future, Ms. Kubinec said that any city in Alberta looking to bid would also need the support of the federal government. Ottawa was unwilling to help Edmonton foot the projected cost of hosting the Games.

Mr. Farbrother said that the city couldn't take on the responsibility of being the primary underwriter for the Games. The $1-billion price did not include the athletes village and security costs. Organizers nervously looked at the cost of Toronto's 2015 Pan American Games, which has swelled to more than $2.5-billion.

An Edmonton bid for the 2026 Games would receive the full support of Commonwealth Games Canada, according to its CEO, Brian MacPherson.

"We've already given Edmonton a first right to bid for 2026, that shows our faith in the local leadership here. They put a strong bid together. It's a winning bid when the right time comes," Mr. MacPherson said.

Only the coastal South African city of Durban is still seeking to host the 2022 event, which would be Africa's first Commonwealth Games.