A public vote to determine if the city should pursue a bid for the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games has ended and the City of Calgary says the unofficial results indicate 56.4 per cent of the ballots were against hosting the 2026 Games.

The question on the ballot was:

Are you for or are you against Calgary hosting the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games?

__ I am for Calgary hosting

__ I am against Calgary hosting

The City of Calgary's unofficial plebiscite results are as follows:

171,750 votes cast against hosting the Olympics

132,832 votes cast in favour of hosting the Olympics

304,774 total ballots cast

In a statement released Tuesday night, NoCalgaryOlympics officials said they were pleased that 'Calgarians recognized that hosting the Olympics is one path but not the only path towards building on all of our community's strengths and opportunity'.

"Today, Calgarians had an opportunity to respond to a plebiscite question and we sincerely hope that their vote was informed beyond the Bid Book and included a broader perspective about what builds a liveable city with opportunity in which everyone participates fully."

Mayor Naheed Nenshi said he was disappointed with the results of the non-binding plebiscite. "I was hoping for a yes vote tonight."

"Ultimately, the people have spoken," said Nenshi. "The people have spoken in big numbers and the people have spoken clearly. This is very clear direction for where we go from here."

Ward 4 councillor Sean Chu, who adamantly opposed an Olympic bid, found the results of the vote to be extremely satisfying.“It felt great. I feel Calgarians with common sense prevailed. This speaks a lot to David versus Goliath.”

The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) issued a statement Tuesday stating the organization respected the results of the plebiscite in Calgary but was disappointed with the outcome. "The opportunity to welcome the world to Canada, where people can experience the uniting power of the Games and within our nation’s culture of peace and inclusion, would have offered countless benefits to all. This would have been a unique opportunity for Canadians to be leaders in fulfilling the promise of a renewed vision for the Games."

“We thank the Calgary 2026 Bid Corporation, and the many leaders from the federal, provincial, local and Indigenous communities who have worked diligently in this effort," said Tricia Smith, COC president, in the statement. "We applaud and thank the athletes, volunteers and our staff, whose passion has been clearly demonstrated through their countless hours of devotion to making the Games in Calgary a possibility. Most of all, we thank the people of Calgary and Canmore who stood behind this effort to make the 2026 Games a reality for their region and for their country.”

The 165 polling stations situated around the city were open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and Vote 2018 officials said the plebiscite went off without a hitch.

“I’m very proud of what my team has delivered," said Laura Kennedy, returning officer for Vote 2018 after releasing the unofficial results of the plebiscite. "We indicated we would have the results done by 10 o’clock and we were able to manage a significant amount of voters coming through stations today- the extended hours I think was very successful. We will be doing debriefs and looking at all of our processes after this.”

A million ballots were printed to ensure there were enough to go around and Elections Calgary used vote tabulators to electronically tally the ballots.

Canadian Paralympic Committee statement on Calgary 2026 plebiscite unofficial results



“While we are disappointed with the results of the plebiscite, we are pleased the people of Calgary had the opportunity to share their voice and we respect their opinion. — CDN Paralympic Team (@CDNParalympics) November 14, 2018

Invited candidates must submit a formal Olympic bid proposal by January and a host city will be selected by the IOC Session in September 2019.

For more information on the 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games bid, click HERE.