The bidding for the 2017 World Expo has now closed and in a stunning move, Calgary has thrown in its bid for the fair, going up against Edmonton in the competition.
The Department of Canadian Heritage confirmed that Calgary is now in the running as of Friday afternoon.
Edmonton has been working on its bid for close to seven months and the bid committee submitted a formal proposal to the province. An estimate $4.5 million has been set aside for the cost of the bid and the city has started looking for volunteers.
Provincial officials have been in contact with the City of Edmonton on the bid, but one senior MLA told CTV News that Calgary's plan to bid has never been discussed at the Alberta Legislature.
The next step for both cities is to prepare a formal bid to host the Expo and the deadline for that is November 2009.
