Feds to begin sport funding rollout ‘imminently’ after months-long application process

Nearly five months after a breakthrough sport funding announcement, the federal government is preparing to begin its rollout “imminently.”

Over 101 applications were submitted for the supplemental core funding first announced in April, with a sum ask of roughly $168 million, about $40 million more than the $129 million available for the 2026-27 fiscal year, according to multiple national sport organization (NSO) executives.

Those applications, due in July after a three-week timeline to prepare, come from NSOs, multi-sport organizations (MSOs) and Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sport Institute Network members.

With winter sports set to start up and summer sports in their championship seasons, there are varying levels of urgency across the industry for the funding to land.

Canada Snowboard CEO Dustin Heise said Wednesday he was informed a little over a week ago that it could be coming shortly.

“We should know in the next week or so, or certainly over the next couple of weeks, what we'd be looking at,” said Heise, who added that the government has been cooperative and informative throughout the entire process.

“Like everybody in business or sport, we certainly always hope for rapid return and turnaround. But I'd say this is realistic and I'd say it's certainly met expectation on what could be achieved.”

Bahoz Dara Aziz, a spokesperson for secretary of sport for Canada and Olympic kayak champion Adam van Koeverden, confirmed in a statement to CBC Sports that “applications are now under review, with funding decisions and rollout expected imminently.”

“Following the spring economic update, applications for supplemental funding opened in June, providing NSOs with additional mid-fiscal-year support through a streamlined