Canadian Government Offers $72 Million in Sports Relief Funding

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Photo Courtesy: Vaughn Ridley/Swimming Canada

The Canadian Government Friday committed to provide $72 million in relief funding for the nation’s sports sector to cover shortfalls caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The country’s 60 national sports organizations will receive $34.5 million. Organizations in provinces and territories get $32.5 million, and $5 million is earmarked for the Athlete Assistance Program.

The aid was announced by Federal Heritage Minister Steven Guilbeault Friday. The sports funding is part of a $198.3 million package that also includes arts and culture spending.

“This is funding specifically devoted to what we’ve termed ‘amateur sport’ over the years, but amateur and Olympic sport, national sports organizations, multi-sport service organizations and sports institutes in Canada,” Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker told CBC Sports. “That’s a main point to focus as emergency funding, to make sure that they stay viable. They are an important part of the fabric of this country.”

Shoemaker said that aid will be distributed based on need. With the coronavirus pandemic cancelling events this summer, either delaying or erasing revenue, many national bodies are in desperate need of funds.

“I think there’s a chance some NSOs might not survive,” Swimming Canada CEO Ahmed El-Awadi said. “There’s also a greater possibility NSOs will look very different after this.”

“We will try to save all our organizations and to help everybody,” Guilbeault told The Canadian Press. “We may not be able to, but we will try. What we’re hoping to achieve out of this is once we’ve gone through that first phase of the crisis, our sports ecosystem is still intact.”

The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee said in a statement that they are “sincerely grateful” for the relief funding.

“National Sport Organizations are facing significant obstacles, including limited cash flows, layoffs and uncertainty,” the statement continued. “Along with this funding package, the COC and CPC will remain committed to playing our role in supporting the sport community.”

The decision comes the same week that many U.S. sporting bodies were revealed to have received loans from the federal government through the Paycheck Protection Program.

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Christine MacAulay
3 years ago

Nice hopefully it tricked to our local swimmers in Central Alberta

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