The Ontario Games program is Ontario, Canada's largest multi-sport amateur event which involves hosting and organizing separate events for athletes aged 9–18 years, parasport athletes, and athletes 55 and older. The program is provided by the Government of Ontario's Ministry of Heritage, Sport, Tourism and Culture Industries. Games Ontario is the provincial crown corporation charged with organizing this multi-sport event under the title of "Ontario Games".
Beginning in 1970, the event acted as a showcase for amateur sport. Today the objectives of the event are also meant to provide developmental and competitive opportunities for Ontario's amateur athletes in order to help them prepare for future national and international competitions and help older adults remain active. The Ontario Games are the only multi-sport event of this calibre hosted in the province.
The Ontario Games began as a multi-sport event in Ontario, Canada in 1970 and the event acted as a showcase for amateur sport. Today it is also designed to aid in the development of high performance amateur athletes and prepare them for both the national and international level of sports competition.
The Ontario 55+ Winter Games were created to support and assist in the development of Ontario's active older adults in 10 different sports. As of 2017 there were ten main areas of competition with each area further broken down into specific competitive events. Sports include:
London, Ontario had been chosen to host the 2020 Ontario Summer Games (OSG), but due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the event was cancelled. The plan had been to postpone the 2020 OSG until 2021 but again, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were cancelled and then scrapped altogether.[9]
2021 Ontario Summer Games
Cancelled
The 2021 Ontario Summer Games were scheduled to be hosted as a result of the previous cancellation of the 2020 Ontario Summer Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but again, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, they were cancelled and then scrapped altogether.[10]
The 2022 Ontario Winter Games (OWG) were given the go ahead after a lot of consideration due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The games were to be hosted by Renfrew County and were scheduled to be from February 25–27, 2022 and March 3–6, 2022 but were postponed due to covid-19.
27 sports will be a part of the 2022 OWG program. An estimated 3,500 athletes, coaches, officials and dignitaries are expected to attend.