Medicine Hat 2026

Special Olympics Canada Summer Games coming to Medicine Hat, Alberta.

Medicine Hat is excited to welcome athletes from all corners of Canada when the City hosts the Special Olympics Canada Summer Games in 2026. Medicine Hat boasts a history of highly successful events, including the Special Olympics Alberta Provincial Summer Games 2017.

The city of 65,000 is well-equipped with top notch facilities awaiting our competitive athletes who are participating in 10 different sports.

While here be sure to enjoy Medicine Hat’s more than 115-kilometres of hiking and biking trails, 250 hectares of parks and more recreational facilities per capita than most other cities in Canada – from indoor and outdoor pools, to soccer fields, baseball diamonds, an all-weather track and six first-class golf courses. Our cultural scene also offers events for all to enjoy. Check here for a first look.

Medicine Hat is a vibrant city with an enjoyable climate and is looking forward to sharing its community spirit and hospitality when it welcomes over 4,000 visitors including athletes, coaches, mentors, and officials along with their families and friends.

The Games by the numbers:

August 11 - August 15, 2026
Over 1,400 athletes, coaches, managers, and mission staff
Close to 100 officials
2,500 family and friends
10 sports
8 sport venues
Over 1,000 volunteers

Get Involved

Medicine Hat prides itself on its spirit of volunteerism and hospitality. What better way to show your personal community pride, to make an impact and a real difference in the lives of others. Whether its volunteering some of your time, donating resources, or sponsoring an event, you become part of a local, provincial, and national movement to improve the lives of others through sport.

To find out more
Visit: socmedhat2026.ca
Or contact: admin@socmedhat2026.ca

Land Acknowledgement

The Bow and Elbow rivers meet is a place of confluence where the sharing of ideas and opportunities naturally come together. February 2024, Calgary will be gathering place for more than 1,200 Special Olympics athletes from across Canada in their pursuit of sport excellence and connection. Indigenous peoples have their own names for this area that have been in use long before Scottish settlers named this place Calgary. The Métis call the Calgary area Otos-kwunee [“oh-tus-skwahnee”]. In the Blackfoot language, they call this place, Moh-kins-tsis [“mohk-kin-stis”]. The Îethka Stoney Nakoda Nation refer to the Calgary area as Wîchîspa Oyade [“win chee spa oy ah day”] and the people of the Tsuut’ina [“sut sinah”] nation call this area Guts-ists-i [“Goot-sits-say”]. We would like to acknowledge that the Special Olympics Canada Winter Games Calgary 2024 will be located on the traditional territories of the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta. This includes: the Siksika [“sit-sicka”], Piikani [“peegun-ee”], and Kainai [“gay-nah”] collectively known as the Blackfoot Confederacy; the Îethka [“yitch ka”] Nakoda Wîcastabi [“wee che stahbi”] First Nations, comprised of the Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Good Stoney Bands; and the Tsuut’ina [“sut sinah”] First Nation. The city of Calgary is also homeland to the historic Northwest Métis and to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region 3. We acknowledge all Indigenous urban Calgarians, First Nations, Inuit, and Métis, who have made Calgary their home. We work, play and reside on this sacred gathering place and the Games will provides us with an opportunity to engage in and demonstrate leadership on reconciliation.