Naming Edmonton an NHL Hub City Would Boost Our City’s Economic Recovery Efforts
28 May 2020
The Edmonton Chamber fully supports the bid by the Oilers Entertainment Group, the City of Edmonton and the Government of Alberta to name Edmonton an NHL hub city.
“Edmonton businesses would welcome the NHL with open arms,” said Janet Riopel, President and CEO of the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce. “The pandemic has left many of our job creators struggling to hang on, and this opportunity would give us a much-needed dose of excitement, and would be a huge boost to our economic recovery efforts.”
Edmonton is in the fortunate position to be reopening its economy sooner than most jurisdictions. Owing to the strong leadership from our governments and health agencies, along with the selfless actions of Edmontonians, the number of COVID-19 cases in our city remains low and our health care system has the capacity to respond to any need that may arise.
“Our resilient business community has done everything they can to keep the public safe throughout the COVID-19 crisis,” said Riopel.
In addition to its robust health care and testing capacity, Edmonton is home to world-class facilities in Rogers Place and the ICE District, which is ideal for hosting an event of this scale and scope.
“We are proud to call ourselves Oil Country … as with every opportunity our Edmonton community is presented with, we will rally strongly and ensure that our role in hosting the NHL would be a story of success and celebration,” said Riopel.