Ottawa designates $755M for sport organizations, athletes

By Your Southwest Media Group

Adam van Koeverden has expanded on $755 million recently designated for Canadian athletes and sports organizations.

Officials intend the money, to be distributed over five years, “to expand access to sport” while also supporting high-level competitors, a Canadian Heritage Department statement said. The money was part of the federal government’s economic update issued last Tuesday.

“From the playground to the podium, we are expanding access to sport so more Canadians can participate in their communities, while ensuring our athletes have the support they need to train, compete and succeed,” van Koeverden, the country’s secretary of state for sport, said in the statement.

Van Koeverden visited Vancouver to announce the government would spend as much as $145 million to improve security for World Cup soccer games in Toronto and Vancouver.

The money “responds to specific operational needs identified by the host provinces and cities and reinforces Canada’s readiness to host one of the largest sporting and cultural events in the world,” the statement said.

The other $755 million will begin flowing in 2026-27, with $118 million per year after that, the statement indicated.

The government designated $660 million of it, with $110 million annually after the five years, to sport organizations, “increasing funding that has remained largely unchanged since 2005,” it said.

“We want sport organizations to work with private-sector partners who share the goal of getting more Canadians involved in sport,” the statement added. “We also expect sport organizations to make changes to their programming to invest in sport at all levels.”

The Heritage Department will use $50 million over the period “to bring more world-class sporting events to Canada,” especially for “legacy-building projects that deliver lasting benefits well beyond the events themselves,” it said.

Another $45 million over five years and $8 million to follow will help top-notch athletes train and compete. The amount will also cover “support for better mental health and funding that will be linked to robust safe-sport measures and frameworks,” the statement said.

This will “respond to some of the findings” from the Future of Sport Commission’s final report “while the government continues to consider all of its recommendations,” it explained.