The city of Regina is hosting a major event in the Canoe Kayak world this week.

The Canoe Kayak Sprint National Championships will see about 800 athletes come to the Queen City to compete for their clubs from across the country.

Co-chair of the organizing committee Chris LaPlante said it’s an important event for Regina to host.

“We get an opportunity to bid on it every five years, and for Regina itself and the economy of Regina it’ll bring in several millions of dollars over the next five or six days,” LaPlante said. “We’ve got somewhere in the area of 1,000 people that are going to be in attendance.”

LaPlante said it’s a free event for those wanting to catch the action.

“Pine Island is the best location to be able to view the entirety of the race from the top of the old Broad Street bridge abutment you can see the entirety of the race course,” LaPlante said. “We have an announcer that will be giving a play-by-play on everything that’s going on, so if you’re not familiar with it, come on down. We have an athletes village and a number of boats out here.”

Director of development for Canoe Kayak Canada Ian Mortimer said this is the fourth time Regina has hosted this event, the last time being in 2014.

“It’s a great place to host a major event, the host organizing committee here does an amazing job, and the venue is unbelievable,” Mortimer said. “Beautiful, right in the middle of the city, right by the (Legislature) on Lake Wascana, an International race course, it’s amazing.”

The races conclude on Sunday.