Around 23,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses will be in Calgary this weekend for the 2026 Eternal Happiness Convention at the BMO Centre.
From Friday until Sunday, 3,500 delegates from Alberta, the Northwest Territories, Yukon, southeastern B.C. and around the world will be participating in this year’s event, said Jehovah’s Witnesses Canada spokesperson Brad Pramberg at a special welcoming reception for delegates on Tuesday afternoon.
The event is free of charge and the public is welcome to learn more about their theme of eternal happiness, based on the teachings of Jesus, he said.
“Throughout the week or the weekend, there’s going to be talks, presentations, videos, highlighting Jesus’ life and also how we can draw from that in our own lives today, and ultimately leading to the future where the Bible promises a new paradise Earth,” Pramberg said.
There are 26 other similar conventions taking place across Canada, and similar conventions were previously held in the Saddledome, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, Red Deer and Edmonton.
Historically, the first Jehovah’s Witnesses came to Alberta back in 1895 in the town of Calmar.
By 1910, they expanded and grew to other cities, with their first convention in Calgary taking place in 1911.
“One of our first Kingdom Halls was actually just on McDonald Avenue, and that was one of the first Kingdom Halls here in the Calgary area,” Pramberg said. “So it goes back almost 130 years.”
Thousands of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Calgary
There are well over 6,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses in Calgary that are separated into 44 congregations.
Eight Kingdom Halls are located within Calgary, with three more located in Airdrie, Okotoks and Strathmore.
Across Canada, there are 50,000 Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Their main objective involves public ministry through door-to-door knocking and public witnessing that they do at public transit stations.
They also put full effort into their regional translation office in Fort McLeod that translates Bible messaging into Indigenous languages in the province.
In terms of disaster relief, they have also reached out and supported those in need during the 2013 floods and 2016 fire in Fort McMurray.
“Those were events where we gathered local volunteers to go assist everyone in certain areas to help them get their feet back on the ground and to restore their life again,” Pramberg said. “Even helping ones who are coming into the country who are perhaps coming from situations that are a little bit tougher than here, we definitely want to welcome them in and make sure that they can continue on with their life here perfectly.”
Brad Pramberg, regional spokesman Canada Branch Jehovah’s Witness Canada, as the Eternal Happiness Convention is set to take place at the BMO Centre, with thousands attending. Photo taken in Calgary on Tuesday, July 28, 2026.
Delegates thankful for city’s hospitality
Calgary has gone out of its way to help accommodate the thousands of delegates who will be staying in the city for the event, Pramberg said.
Throughout the city, he said the hotels have stepped up to ensure that 22,000 bed nights are being provided through 3,400 rooms for attendees.
“We’re always looking for cities who want to cooperate and work with us,” he said. “Calgary definitely has already set that as a precedent, so we definitely are enjoying our time here at the BMO Centre and would be more than happy to have another convention here in the city.”
It’s a long way from Mahwah, New Jersey, but Calgary’s hospitality has been fantastic, said American delegate Deron Burks.
This is a first-time visit for Burks and his wife, and he said it was a blessing to witness what the city has to offer.
“We got a snippet from when we first signed up to be delegates, but we didn’t know to what extent it would be,” Burks said. “So that has been super impressive as well because we’ve had a chance to have the Alberta western experience today.”
It’s also her first time in the city, said Mexican delegate Karla Avila, and she is grateful for the hospitality of Calgarians.
“I’m so happy to be here with my friends, and this is the first time I visited the country, so I think that everybody needs to experience something like this,” Avila said.
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