What Downtown Calgary’s Transformation Means for Meeting Planners

Downtown Calgary has always delivered big opportunities for meeting planners. The 122,000-square-foot Calgary TELUS Convention Centre offers flexible, state-of-the-art space for designing an unforgettable experience. And when that experience wraps up, attendees are just steps away from Stephen Avenue where they can savour award-winning restaurants like Major Tom, sip cocktails at local favourites like The Wednesday Room and soak up the energy of the city.

Over the past decade, downtown Calgary has been looking even better. Forward-thinking initiatives earned it a nod from The Washington Post as “the model city for transforming downtowns”, and that transformation is far from finished. Building on the recent $500 million investment in the new BMO Centre at Stampede Park, Calgary is about to make the model city look even shinier with $2 billion of additional major infrastructure investments over the next three years.

Located next door to the Calgary TELUS Convention Centre, the Glenbow Museum will open its doors to write a new chapter as the JR Shaw Centre for Arts & Culture in 2027. Attendees will be able to explore 44 exhibitions and installations across eight floors, diving into a collection of art, objects and belongings that showcase the stories and traditions of Western Canada. The $205 million building is setting a new gold standard for accessibility: admission will be free — forever.

In addition to welcoming the public, meeting planners will be able to elevate the attendee experience — literally. A new 13,000-square-foot rooftop terrace that overlooks downtown will offer a way to spend more time beneath our sunny skies. Internationally-renowned artist Maya Lin — the designer of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. — is the visionary behind the outdoor space.

When the Calgary Flames kick off the 2027 season, hometown fans will have another reason to cheer: they’ll be watching from seats in the new Scotia Place — a stunning architectural masterpiece of a multi-purpose sports and entertainment venue. The jerseys in the ‘C of Red’ won’t be the only ones who benefit, though. Meeting planners can look forward to even more ways to bring attendees together in the 1.15-million-square-foot complex. Whether they opt to book a premium suite experience for VIPs or bring a group together in one of the outdoor community plazas, the $1.2 billion Scotia Place will be the place to score a winning goal with attendees.

For planners hosting during the coldest months of the year, an outdoor skating rink will offer another way to build an unforgettable winter experience.

Canada is a big country — around 3.85 million square miles, to be exact — but the biggest cultural infrastructure investment is happening right here in Calgary at the Werklund Centre (formerly known as Arts Commons). The campus was already busy hosting more than 2,000 events each year. Now, it’s raising the bar with 13 indoor and outdoor venues that will cover more than one million square feet.

The $660 million transformation delivers new possibilities for meeting planners too — from bringing together 5,000 attendees in the adjacent Olympic Plaza (which will also be reinvigorated with a $70 million overhaul) to hosting an intimate workshop in a new 200-seat studio theatre.

After all this transformation wraps up in 2028, guess what’s next? More transformation. With so many additional reasons for attendees to come early and stay late, Calgary is adding more options for their time here with three new Marriott properties — an Autograph Collection, a W Hotel and a JW Marriott — for more than 700 new rooms on the east side of downtown. Truman has made yet another landmark announcement partnering with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts to bring a second luxury location to the Downtown core. They won’t just impact room blocks, either. The city’s skyline will look dramatically different: The development includes what will be the tallest tower in Western Canada. It’s a reminder that in Calgary, we’re always aiming for new heights.

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