Canada’s largest gaming expo in Edmonton for the weekend

Tabletop gamers attended a Warhammer world championship at Game Con Canada in Edmonton on June 13, 2025. (Galen McDougall/CTV News Edmonton)

Canada’s largest gaming expo is expected to bring upwards of 40,000 visitors to the Edmonton Expo Centre over the weekend.

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Game Con Canada kicked off Friday and runs until Sunday, bringing together online and tabletop gamers of all ages together for three days.

“This is a weekend all about gaming, everything to do with gaming, video games, board games, Hollywood celebrities, movies and all of the above,” said Chris Meilleur, CEO of Meibell Consulting and Game Con Canada.

“This is just a fun-filled weekend for people to come out and have a good time.”

The convention featured a Warhammer world championship, a live Dungeons and Dragons comedy experience, escape rooms and celebrity guests including Matthew Lillard, Steven Ogg and Aleks Paunovic.

Meilleur said guests can expect to see a lot of cosplay, too, with a Sunday cosplay competition handing out $10,000 in cash prizes.

“Matter of fact, we’re the largest cosplay cash prize in Canada,” he added.

John Moffatt and Ian McDonald attended the event Friday in their best Halo marine attire. They said it’s great to have a space to share their love of the game and the getups with other people.

“You got Halo 3 in 2007 and it was like, damn, that was the moment,” McDonald said. “You want to be a part of that. And being able to make costumes and do it where you could feel like you were really in the game, was what we wanted to do.”

“(Cosplay is) a really great outlet for people,” added Moffatt. “It’s working on art that’s not your most conventional form.”

The convention will run until 7 p.m. Saturday night and will return from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. on Sunday