OTTAWA – In order to be the best, athletes and coaches must constantly review and adjust how they compete based on their training and performance results. Over the past year, Sport Canada has done the same to ensure that the investments Canadians make in high-performance sport allow Olympic and Paralympic athletes to push for the podium.
Today, Sport Canada published the findings of the review of its targeted excellence approach. The findings provide insight on Canada’s high-performance sport system that will help align and improve Targeted Excellence, by focusing on longer-term sustainable technical and financial support and the development of high-performance sport in Canada.
Canada needs to sustain the development of high-performance sport systems for all Olympic and Paralympic sports, not only for those that are targeted to win medals at Games. Winning medals for Canada will always be important, but it cannot be the only measure of success.
As a result, we will work with our sport partners to establish key indicators that demonstrate that we are advancing the high-performance sport system for all Olympic and Paralympic Sports, including improvements in coaching, sport science, and research and development.
We will continue working with our sport partners on addressing these and other issues raised in the review and framing next steps.
As the single largest investor in this country’s sport system, the Government of Canada will continue to support our sport organizations and athletes to ensure that Canada remains a leading sport nation.
Quick Facts
- Over 1,400 Canadians provided direct input into the review process, including 804 through direct invitations to Canada’s sport community and 605 through an open forum.
- Goss Gilroy Inc. (GGI) was contracted to obtain input and feedback from athletes, coaches, sport partners and stakeholders across Canada through interviews and surveys. GGI also completed a document and literary review, as well as a review of Sport Canada’s own database.
- The Government of Canada, through Sport Canada, provides $64 million annually to Targeted Excellence based on research initiatives and recommendations from Own the Podium, as part of the almost $200 million annual investment into Canada’s sport system overall.
- Own the Podium is a not-for-profit organization that plays a critical role in supporting Canada’s overall approach to Targeted Excellence.
View the Report Here [PDF]
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