Particle.news
Download on the App Store
3 ARTICLES
·
last mo.

Federal Budget Leaves Canadian Sport Bodies Without Core Funding Increase

Sport leaders vowed to press Ottawa for a $144-million boost, citing mounting deficits and cuts to athlete programs.

Prime Minister Mark Carney, left, has stated his love and passion for sport, physical activity and recreation in Canada, but didn’t include new funding for sports in his first budget delivered on Tuesday. Canadian Olympic Committee CEO David Shoemaker, right, was hopeful of a $144 million increase.
Image

Overview

  • Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne’s 2025 budget provided no new core funding for national sport organizations, whose last base increase was in 2005 for 62 NSOs.
  • The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee said they will keep lobbying for predictable core funding and pointed to potential private capital and federal infrastructure spending as complementary avenues.
  • The organizations report NSOs are running deficits, trimming competition and training opportunities, and raising team fees that athletes pay as inflation erodes budgets.
  • The budget’s sport items were limited to a previously committed $100 million over two years for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, plus recent announcements of $3.11 million for athlete and coach mental health services this winter and a $4.5 million community sport boost.
  • Freestyle Canada’s CEO warned the system is unsustainable without new core dollars, saying the federation’s three-year accumulated deficit could approach $2 million.