Sport Hosting Services

How We Can Help

Bringing a sport event to life takes skill, teamwork, and local know-how—and that’s where we shine! With experience hosting high-calibre events, access to world-class venues, and strong local partnerships, Explore Waterloo Region makes hosting your event in our region seamless and exciting.

Let’s make your event unforgettable—here’s how we can help.

Sport Hosting Event Grant program

Event Grant Application Guidelines

Explore Waterloo Region’s Sport Hosting Event Grant program is intended to support organizations hosting new and existing sporting events in the region that will enhance sporting infrastructure, the region’s event hosting capacity, and create strong experiences for the community and spectators.

Current Grant Intake

This intake period supports sport events taking place in Waterloo Region in 2026.

Applications can be submitted by linking to the forms below. Deadline for the current application intake is Friday, October 10th, 2025.

Sport Hosting Event Grant Application Form

Sport Hosting Training Camp Grant Application Form

If you require further information on Sport Hosting Event Grants, please contact Manager of Sport Hosting, Taylor MacIntyre, at [email protected]

Additional Funding Opportunities

Funding to assist with sport hosting, programming and infrastructure projects are available through Municipal, Provincial and Federal partners. For further information on types of funding, eligibility and submission deadlines, please visit the links below.

Event Hosting Assistance

Explore Waterloo Region provides access to financial support, as well as providing information on grant opportunities available to sporting events. Please contact us if you are interested in further information on event hosting grants in the region.

Bid Development

Explore Waterloo Region has extensive experience in sport hosting bid development and we can work with you to identify the key elements of your bid proposal and support you in the development of a professional bid package that highlights the best that Waterloo Region has to offer. Contact us to request our standardized bid documentation. 

Accommodations & Housing

With thousands of hotel rooms as well as campus housing at Conestoga College, University of Waterloo and Wilfrid Laurier University – Explore Waterloo Region can provide a variety of accommodation options to suit your needs and work with you to secure the best option for your event by liaising with properties to develop room blocks and contracts.

Sport Familiarization Visits

Explore Waterloo Region can provide support in developing site visit itineraries for event organizers and connect visitors with the key stakeholder groups in the region to ensure every box is checked off during an inspection visit while providing a great hosting experience.

Sport Venues

Explore Waterloo Region can coordinate securing any of Waterloo Regions state of the art sport venues for your event. With the combined resources of multi-municipalities, and a wide range of sport assets we can provide you with all of the options to stage your event. Whether it’s a single ice pad or the multi-sport footprint of RIM Park, we can source your venue needs for single and multi-sport events across the Region.

Partnerships

Explore Waterloo Region can coordinate on behalf of an interested bid group public funding and stakeholder partnerships to support events, community letters of support and/or funding and VIK from local organizations, institutions and sponsors.

Explore Waterloo Region can help amplify your event’s reach within the local and regional community. Depending on your event’s scope and objectives, our team may support your promotional efforts through social media amplification, collaborative media planning, and other marketing support.

Tourism & Culture

Explore Waterloo Region can provide up to date information on things to do in Waterloo Region when competitors are off of the field of play, including attractions, group friendly restaurants & catering, city information and community events.

Transportation

Explore Waterloo Region can provide information on transportation services to and from and within Waterloo Region for visiting teams, officials and spectators. For more information on the transportation services, and airport services available, click HERE.

Volunteers

Need volunteers? Explore Waterloo Region has a database of dedicated sport volunteers from across the region that can be shared for recruitment to support your event.
Want to volunteer? Use the link below to sign up as a sport event volunteer in our volunteer database.

Volunteer Form – Sports

Advisory Services

With extensive event experience, ranging from community and regional events to some of the largest sporting events in the world, Explore Waterloo Region can provide a lens of expertise to support your overall event plan. We are available to sit on bid committees, host organizing committees and provide overall advisory support to any event in the Region of Waterloo.