TORONTO (Reuters) – The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) on Monday urged the federal government to boost financial support to national sport organizations, citing that they are overburdened and facing a significant decrease in services and programs.
A Deloitte study, commissioned by the COC and the Canadian Paralympic Committee, revealed that the country’s 61 national sports organizations require an additional C$104 million ($76.61 million) in direct funding every year.
Core funding for the entities governing amateur sports across Canada has remained unchanged since 2005.
If additional funding is not secured, a five-year projection indicated that the organizations would accumulate a deficit of C$134 million while striving to fulfill their primary mandates.
The COC emphasized that Canada’s sport system is grappling with escalating costs, warning that without a funding increase, support for athletes at all levels will suffer, potentially leading the system to regress.
“We have been aware of this issue growing, but the stark numbers underscore that we are on the precipice of a crisis,” stated COC CEO David Shoemaker.
“NSOs (national sports organizations) cannot sustain this trajectory. They cannot operate in the red, and without changes, tough decisions will have to be made.”
($1 = 1.3576 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Michael Perry)
