Gaming industry summit starts in Edmonton day before massive expo

The stage at the Edmonton Expo Centre on June 18, 2026, for the North American Games Industry Summit. (Darcy Seaton/CTV News Edmonton)

People associated with the gaming industry are meeting in Edmonton the day before Canada’s largest convention for the wide-ranging community begins.

The business-focused North American Games Industry Summit at the Edmonton Expo Centre started Wednesday for two days of gaming-related programming, panels and networking.

On Friday, Game Con Canada begins at the Expo Centre and runs through Sunday. Organizers are expecting 40,000-50,000 people to attend the event for the opportunity to experience hundreds of games from developers of video games, board games and virtual-reality tech, and meet, see, hear from dozens of industry celebrities at stage events, workshops and autograph signings.

Chris Meilleur, the chief executive officer of Meibel Consulting who cofounded the events, said holding the annual gathering in Edmonton comes thanks to “a lot of amazing groups that are helping make this possible.”

“The city has been over the top supportive of what we’re doing, and there are a lot of really great developers and publishers here already, so it felt like a fitting place for us to take the (events) and grow it to the next level,” said Meilleur, adding his group recently signed a six-year agreement to keep the summit and convention in the city through 2031.

The all-ages Game Con Canada opens Friday at 11 a.m.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Darcy Seaton