VANCOUVER – The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver broke even, according to the organizing committee behind the Games.
VANOC told reporters at a news conference Friday that $1.884 billion in operations resulted in neither surplus nor deficit, and that the $603-million venue development program also came in on budget.
The statement, unveiled as part of a final financial report from the Vancouver organizing committee emerged hours after new reports from PricewaterhouseCoopers said the Games created 45,000 jobs and generated between $2 billion and $2.5 billion in business for British Columbia.
Federal Minister of State for Sport Gary Lunn and B.C. Finance Minister Colin Hansen released two studies Friday conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The ministers said in a release the studies point to the positive economic and social spinoffs from Vancouver’s hosting of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The reports cover the period of 2003-09 and the first three months of 2010.
Incremental tourism spending was pegged at $463 million, the release said, while venue construction is estimated to have generated $1.22 billion worth of activity.
The release said media coverage reached as many as 3.8 billion people worldwide.
“Hosting the 2010 Winter Games has created lasting legacies that will benefit Canadians for years to come,” said Mr. Lunn in the release.
PricewaterhouseCoopers found the Games generated between $2 billion and $2.5 billion in real gross domestic product for the province, the release said.
The PricewaterhouseCoopers reports are part of a series commissioned by the governments of Canada and British Columbia to measure the impact of the Games.
Vancouver Sun
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