Canadian athletes on outside as Carney government's 1st budget sees no new sports funding

Canada's summer and winter Olympians, along with other athletes, were left on the outside during Tuesday’s budget announcement by the federal government, despite a push in recent months by the Canadian Olympic Committee and national sport organizations for more resources.

In Prime Minister Mark Carney’s first budget delivered by Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne, no new funding is allocated toward sports in the announcement, with 2005 representing the most recent increase in core federal funding for Canada’s 62 federally funded NSOs.

Core funding is money the sport organizations rely on to fund operations, athletes, coaches and support staff.

The ask this year was a $144 million increase to offset two decades without a significant boost that appear as millions of dollars of deficits on the books of NSOs, according to COC CEO David Shoemaker.

He was hopeful Carney, a former collegiate hockey goalie who has previously stated his love and passion for sport, physical activity and recreation in Canada, would take a stand and through the budget tell Canadians that athletes matter.

“He understands the power of sport. The reality is we are falling way behind our competitors. Germany, Italy, France are outspending us by 10 times,” Shoemaker revealed to CBC Sports recently.

In the April 2024 budget, the government proposed two-year investments totalling $41 million toward the Sport Support Program (which goes toward NSOs and five other groups who support the development of Canadian sport), the Future of Sport in Canada Commission (a body whose two main focuses are funding and safe sport) and community sport programming.

The proposal was less than half the $104 million increase requested by the COC.

Canadian Olympic