24TDRPAR425 - Canmore Nordic Centre Cafe and Catering Services - Concession Operating Agreement

Alberta’s provincial parks and recreation areas conserve our natural heritage and provide popular nature-based recreation opportunities to visitors from across the province and around the world. They also play a major role in Alberta’s tourism industry, providing opportunities for small businesses and having positive impacts on the economies of many local communities.

Alberta Forestry and Parks (the Province) is seeking a business or organization with demonstrated experience to operate and maintain the café and catering services for events, including weddings, at the Canmore Nordic Centre.

Developed for the 1988 Winter Olympics, the Canmore Nordic Centre (CNC) is located 3 kilometres south of the town of Canmore on Spray Lakes Road. The CNC sees over 800,000 visitors annually and serves as a sporting event venue and training centre for the national cross-country and biathlon ski teams and hosts many races and other trail-based sporting events. With its beautiful location, Canmore Nordic Centre is also a popular venue for private functions such as weddings and meetings.

The Canmore Nordic Centre Provincial Park is undergoing an approximately $18 million refurbishment, which includes construction of a new biathlon building.

The concession offerings at CNC include a café in the day lodge, open year-round for Canmore Nordic Centre visitors; catering also occurs throughout the year, both with private bookings (especially weddings) and hosting of sporting events. In addition to the café, the day lodge has a banquet room for 80 seats, two meeting rooms and a kitchen. The new biathlon building will include a 200-person banquet hall with roof-top deck, four meeting rooms and commercial kitchen.

The Concession Operating Agreement will be for a 5 year term commencing April 1, 2024 with a possible 5 year extension.