The City of Grande Prairie was proud to take home the Sports Tourism Canada Canadian Sport Event of the Year Award – Group B for the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships at the Prestige Sport Tourism Awards on March 20, 2025.

The STC Canadian Sport Event of the Year recognizes the overall success of an outstanding single-sport, multi-sport or collegiate event held in Canada in 2024. The National Aboriginal Hockey Championships took place in Grande Prairie, the first Alberta city to host the event, over May 5-11, 2024. This annual event serves as the premier competition for young indigenous hockey players in Canada, and brought in 350 players, 80 coaching staff and nearly 6,000 spectators for 46 games. Grande Prairie was proud to provide free admission to all games and supplementary events, host nine Indigenous vendors, feature Cree play-by-play commentary and include a smudging teepee with an Elder for participants and spectators. 

“The City of Grande Prairie is immensely proud of this achievement, and for everyone in our organization and the community from the organizers to the volunteers and sponsors who made it all possible. We have a legacy as a games city, and the National Aboriginal Hockey Championships are helping us carry that torch on,” said City of Grande Prairie Mayor Jackie Clayton. 

The City thanks the Indigenous Sport Council of Alberta for their support and the Aboriginal Sport Circle for selecting Grande Prairie as the host city. 

For more on the awards, visit sporttourismcanada.com.