Come this summer, tens of thousands of Rotarians will travel to Calgary to gather, meet, and build community connections that span the globe.

The Rotary International Convention was officially welcomed to Calgary on April 10, ahead of the June 21 start of the convention, in one of the final milestones in a decade long journey to return the convention to the city.

Although the celebration of Calgary’s legendary western hospitality will be a major part of the festivities, it is the promotion of peace through community prosperity that will be the hallmark of the 2025 convention.

Bryn Styles, Rotary International Convention Committee Chair and former Rotary International Director, said that the main goal of Rotary is to bring peace and world understanding in a non-partisan, non-political way.

“We don’t get engaged in politics, and Rotary has no official statements on politics because each country is different. So we’re totally non-political, but we work towards a more peaceful society by bringing people from around the world with common values, Rotary values, to do that,” Styles said.

He said the representation of nations worldwide in Rotary actually exceeds the number of nations that participate in the United Nations.

Thus far, Rotarians from more than 120 different nations are set to attend the convention. The number of attendees expected to come is between 15,000 and 31,000, with 15,000 already registered and an additional 16,000 booked but awaiting payment—a figure first reported by LWC in March.

“I think our number is going to be more realistic if we look at the 15 to 16,000 range, which we’re quite happy with,” said Styles.

“That will be our largest convention in Rotaries since Covid, and it’s going to be in Calgary. So, we’re happy with that number, and Rotarians, hey come to re-energize and meet friends from around the world. You only see them once a year, but there’s some of your best friends.”

Think local, act global is a big part of the Rotary International Convention

He said it was those local connections that really make the adage think local, act global.

“They can start on the scale of you’re talking about, what projects can we do together? If you get somebody from Africa who’s looking for somebody to help with an educational program, and then you get into the personal sort of thing,” Styles said.

Among the examples of how that has worked internationally, has been the Rotary International effort backed by hundreds of local Rotary clubs to eliminate Polio worldwide alongside the World Health Organization and other NGOs.

Achievements like the longest pathway system in North America, the Rotary-Mattamy Greenway here in Calgary, and park space for sick children and their families at Rotary Park at Ronald McDonald House, were cited by Rotary Host Organizing Committee co-chair Mark Starratt as an example of local excellence for community building.

“Locally organized events are just the tip of the iceberg and a portal in terms into a much larger global movement. Each year, Rotary members contribute millions of dollars and volunteer hours to deliver transformative and lasting impact to help people and communities thrive here,” he said.

Styles said that the Rotary International Convention will follow the G7 meeting of world leaders, and is a bit of a paradox given the topics that will likely be discussed at both.

“It’s Rotarians that bring peace in their own communities. Our own communities still need to develop peace. But you know, we have homelessness, we’ve got the drug issue, we’ve got so many issues with our youth. So, we do it locally, but then we do it globally,” he said.

Building connections at home throughout the convention

Starratt said that since Calgary won the bid for the convention in 2015, thousands of volunteer hours have been poured into the work to make the 2025 convention a repeat of what has become a legendary 1996 Calgary convention among Rotarians.

“As local Rotarians travel the Rotary world, when they find out they’re we’re from Canada, they find out we’re from Calgary, they said 1996 one of the best international conventions to have ever happened, and we’re looking to recreate that magic again this June,” he said.

He said that work hasn’t affected the kind of community efforts needed to build supports within Calgary itself for Rotary projects.

“It’s funny, because for everyone like [Rotary Host Organizing Committee Co-Chair] Craig Stokke and I, and the numerous people from our teams and different committees, there’s that many Rotarians and then some in our city that just go about doing the great community work,” Starratt said.

“They’re having meetings every week. They’re involved in their local communities with partners in a variety of local charities. That work doesn’t stop, doesn’t pause just because we’re having a convention. But we’re sure hoping that that work and that legacy is strengthened by having the convention here in the Calgary region.”

He said that in a sense it meant that Calgarians were getting to have their cake and eat it too when it comes to the work that Rotary has been doing.

“One of the things that Calgary stood head and shoulders above many of the competing cities was how our community and its organizations came together. Everybody from the Calgary Stampede, and not just the organization, not just the infrastructure, but the volunteer core that is so present in this community,” Starratt said.

“When you add in Tourism Calgary, who has been with us since the very beginning, and still to this day are such a major part, and then our two financial sponsors, right from the get-go in the bid. The City of Calgary under Mayor Jyoti Gondek, as well as the Hotel Association under Sol Zia. We’re excited about all of these organizations and the ones that we’re even just meeting today that hear about this convention and want to be a part of it.”

Alisha Reynolds, CEO of Tourism Calgary, said that the spotlight would absolutely be on Calgary as result of the convention.

“We have always been a city that is warm and welcoming and known for being an inclusive place of belonging. We believe Rotary is the perfect gateway to showcase that to the world. Between G7 and Rotary, the media coverage will show Calgary. It will show the blue skies. It will depict the friendliness and the hospitality in a world where so much is tense and so much is changing,” she said.

“I believe Calgary can be the warm hug that welcomes people together, and tells them that travel is an opportunity to learn to understand one another and to create a really strong sense of belonging.”