The British Columbia government spent nearly $1 million on tickets for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The province released its report Thursday on the 2010 Integrated Hosting Program, a venture introduced to maximize business opportunities as B.C. played host to the world.

The report, released by the province's Economic Development Ministry, said B.C. spent $970,675 on tickets in all. Of that money, $942,680 went for 3,251 Olympic seats, while $27,995 went for 499 Paralympic tickets.

The province received another 910 tickets free of charge from the Vancouver organizing committee, pushing the total number of seats used by the government to 4,660.

More than half of those tickets, about 54 per cent, were allocated to business leaders and dignitatries from across the globe, while another 43 per cent were handed out to the public through contests and community groups.

The report said the remaining three per cent was used by ministers and MLAs as part of the province's hosting responsibilities.

The total cost of the hosting program, including the price of tickets, was estimated at just under $2.7 million.

Ian Black, Minister of Small Business, Technology and Economic Development, said the money was well spent and will pay off for B.C. in years to come.

"The people of British Columbia expect us to leverage the opportunity that an Olympic Games brings to British Columbia -- that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a quarter million people come to our door and 3.5 billion people watch us from around the world, and expect us to take advantage of that to tell our story and show it at its very best," he said.

Black said British Columbians should not view the program as a taxpayer-funded schmoozefest for people who easily could have bought tickets themselves.

Of the B.C. ministers and MLAs who did use tickets during the 2010 Winter Games, the highest bill was courtesy of Intergovernmental Relations Minister Naomi Yamamoto. She went to 11 events, including the women's gold medal hockey game, at a cost of $3,648.

Black was right behind Yamamoto, attending nine events worth $3,496.

Transportation and Infrastructure Minister Shirley Bond was third. She attended only three events, but her opening ceremonies ticket was valued at $2,640. The total cost of her tickets: $3,188.

,Premier Gordon Campbell, Finance Minister Colin Hansen, Minister of State Mary McNeil, and Lt.-Gov. Steven Point were given "honoured guest" accreditation by VANOC that allowed them to sit in the Olympic family section of venues without tickets.

But Hansen took in seven events worth $2,947. Campbell paid $400 for one event, the men's gold medal hockey game.

B.C. New Democrat critic Kathy Corrigan said the report is incomplete because it does not include a full accounting of ticket spending by B.C. Crown corporations.

Corrigan said it's been estimated Crown corporations spent more than $1.3 million on tickets, but the accounting does not include how much was spent on catering to the ticket recipients.

"I guess we have not quite half the picture," Corrigan said.

She said taxpayers will have to decide themselves if British Columbians received good value for the millions spent on Olympic tickets.

The list of companies who received tickets from the government reads like a Who's Who of the corporate world.

Microsoft, Google, IBM, Sony and RIM all received seats courtesy of the province.

So, too, did B.C. billionaire Jim Pattison, who was given four opening ceremonies tickets worth $1,100 each.

Another billionaire, Richard Branson, received three $75 seats for a women's hockey game.

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty was given two closing ceremonies tickets valued at $1,560 each.

The hosting and ticketing program promoted some of B.C.'s core sectors, including wood, tourism, technology and green energy.

More than 110 business events were held during the Olympics and Paralympics and were attended by more than 15,000 people.

The report said close to 80 bilateral meetings also took place between business leaders and government, and more than 1,000 companies participated in the program in all.

It said a dozen partnerships have already been agreed to that will create jobs, while another 27 are pending.