Kitchener boxer Mandy Bujold helps push to bring 2021 Canada Games to Waterloo region

Waterloo region has until the end of the month to finish its bid submission for the 2021 Canada Summer Games, in the hopes of convincing organizers this community has the right stuff to host a successful competition. 

It comes after city councillors in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge voted unanimously earlier this month to spend millions of dollars to put Waterloo region and Guelph's best foot forward to host the games, in a competition that will see Waterloo pitted against rivals Sudbury, Ottawa and Niagara Region. 

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"I was a bit surprised," Mandy Bujold said of the unanimous support from Waterloo region's city politicians in a conversation with The Morning Edition guest host Colin Butler Wednesday. 

Bujold, a boxer who competed for Team Canada at the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil and the 2015 PanAm Games in Toronto, has joined the regional committee to try to bring th 2021 Canada Summer Games to this area.

'If anyone can do this, it's us'

Bujold said she believes the games would be a boon for all athletes because the community has all the support networks they require. 

She said it would be good for the local economy, too, driving tourism and generating millions of dollars for local shops, restaurants and stimulate millions more in infrastructure spending. 

I think bringing something big like this, a national sporting event to this region, will be a great thing for this area.- Kitchener boxer and Olympian Mandy Bujold

"Right now we're finishing all the details of what's going to make our region stand out. That has to be submitted at the end of January," she said. 

After the bid submission is complete, Bujold said the Canada Games selection committee will visit this area on a fact finding mission to see if what was said in the bid submission is in fact a reality. 

Bujold said Waterloo region's tech industry would play a key role in hosting the games, such as wearable technology or an app that can allow athletes from different parts of the country to communicate. 

"If anyone can do this, it's us," Bujold said. "I know this community has always backed me in my athletic career and I think bringing something big like this, a national sporting event to this region, will be a great thing for this area."