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Edmonton is getting an influx of public dollars to expand its entertainment district around the home of the NHL’s Edmonton Oilers, two years after the provincial government committed hundreds of millions for a new arena in Calgary.
The Alberta government is working with the City of Edmonton and the Edmonton Oilers owners to build a $408-million event park next to the Oilers’ home of Rogers Place, which opened in 2016.
The government is to contribute about $183 million to build the park and to demolish the Coliseum, the former north-end home of the Oilers where they hoisted five Stanley Cups through the 1980s.
It’s part of an effort to balance the province’s financial support to each of Calgary and Edmonton’s entertainment districts, said Alberta Premier Danielle Smith.
“We are going to be ruthlessly fair between Calgary and Edmonton,” Smith said in Edmonton on Friday.
A final agreement has not been struck, but the three parties have signed a memorandum committing to the project.
Early renderings envision a year-round community event park for concerts and events, and an adjacent village with green space and shops. The province is covering the cost of servicing land that will eventually pave the way for housing developments.
Alberta is also covering $55 million of the $90 million it will cost to tear down the Coliseum, which has been closed since 2017.
The deal comes after the province pledged to cover a nearly $300-million bill for upgrades around the arena that is to replace Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome, including an underpass and improvements to nearby public spaces.
Another $55 million is to go toward building the new $926-million home for the Calgary Flames — the result of a 2023 deal signed by the province, City of Calgary and Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corporation.
Smith has defended criticisms that her government’s funding of projects involving private ventures like NHL teams amounts to corporate welfare.
In 2023, she defended the province’s spending in Calgary, arguing the money was earmarked for supportive infrastructure and not for the Flames or its operating costs.
Smith said the deal announced in Edmonton was similar to the one struck in Calgary.
“It came together very much the same way the Calgary one did, where the city and team made an agreement and then they asked us to bridge the gap on some of the important infrastructure pieces,” Smith said.
The Oilers are owned by Canadian billionaire Daryl Katz, while Calgary Sports and Entertainment Group, owner of the Calgary Flames, is owned by a group of Calgary businessmen including Canadian Natural Resources Inc. co-founder Murray Edwards.
The money for Edmonton also led to upheaval in Smith’s caucus Friday.
Backbencher Scott Sinclair was removed from Smith’s United Conservative caucus for threatening days earlier to vote against the proposed 2025 provincial budget.
Sinclair has said he wants changes to the budget, criticizing it for providing money to the big cities while rural areas are left wanting for road repair and health care.
Failure to pass a budget can, by parliamentary convention, force a government to fall and an election to be called.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 7, 2025.
Matthew Scace, The Canadian Press