March 9, 2016
The City of Toronto has received the International Sport Event of the Year Award from the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance in recognition of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games. The City shares the award with key Games partners, including the Provincial Pan Am Games Secretariat (PPAGS) based in the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport, the Federal Government of Canada, the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Committees, TO2015 (the Games Organizing Committee) and 16 Host Municipalities across the GTA.
"The 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games delivered culture, art and sport to the city’s residents and visitors like nothing we had ever seen before," said City Manager Peter Wallace. "Throughout last summer I saw first-hand how the Games invigorated Toronto, infused it with a sense of celebration, generated civic pride and created an unforgettable Games experience for the athletes."
Wallace accepted the award on behalf of the City and the Games partners at the PRESTIGE Awards ceremony held in Ottawa on March 7, 2016. The PRESTIGE (Program Recognizing Exceptional Sport Tourism Initiatives, Games and Events) Awards are presented by the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA). This year's International Sport Event of the Year Award was sponsored by Toronto Tourism.
For the first time, the CSTA named two recipients of the International Sport Event of the Year Award. The City of Toronto and its Games partners will share the designation with the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015 that took place in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton.
“Once again we had a tremendous group of finalists for the PRESTIGE Awards, and it was difficult to narrow it down to the final recipients,” said Rick Traer, CEO of the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance. “Each PRESTIGE Award is an outstanding example of the dedication and excellence throughout the sport tourism industry in Canada and the recipients have all made significant contributions to maintain Canada’s reputation as one of the world’s leading sport hosting nations.”
The 24 finalists named in the 2016 awards represent the spectrum of the sport tourism industry in Canada. They include major multi-sport, multi-city international events; smaller, intimate local ones; and outstanding volunteers and organizations.
"These Games were a triumphant example of intergovernmental cooperation and this was a legacy in its own right," Wallace continued. "We learned new ways of working together, across municipalities, provincial and federal governments, community organizations and other Games partners."
The 2015 Games provided Toronto with more than an international sport event. The Games' legacies include new and improved infrastructure as well as recreational programming that will benefit the City's residents for generations to come. The Games also showcased Toronto's culture and connected its many diverse and unique communities. The initiatives created through the Host City Showcase Program supported the city's goals in areas such as economic development and tourism, sport development and healthy living, resident engagement and cultural celebration.
Toronto is Canada's largest city, the fourth largest in North America, and home to a diverse population of about 2.8 million people. It is a global centre for business, finance, arts and culture and is consistently ranked one of the world's most livable cities. For information on non-emergency City services and programs, Toronto residents, businesses and visitors can visit
http://www.toronto.ca, call 311, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, or follow us @TorontoComms.
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Media contact: Andrea Gonsalves, Strategic Communications, 416-397-4149, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
