No core funding increase in budget keeps sport “bleeding to death” says freestyle CEO

The head of Freestyle Canada says he understands that this week’s federal budget was designed to navigate the country’s choppy economic waters.

But Peter Judge says the medal hauls that Canadians have seen from their teams at Olympic and Paralympic Games are on borrowed time without an increase in core funding for national sports organizations.

“To be blunt, you know, the sports sector is just slowly bleeding to death,” Judge said Wednesday.

“I’m not being alarmist here. This is shared in the community. Sooner or later, there will be a drop off the cliff.”

The Canadian Olympic and Paralympic committees asked on behalf of sport federations for a $144-million increase in core funding, which they say hasn’t increased in two decades.

NSOs count on core funding as predictable annual revenue with which to pay for operations, coaches and support staff.

The COC and CPC say national sports organizations are running deficits, cutting back on sending athletes to competitions and training camps and increasing team fees that athletes pay because inflation has weakened their spending power.

Judge says Freestyle Canada’s accumulated deficit from three years could reach almost $2 million this year.

But there was no money in Tuesday’s federal budget for core funding.

“Canadians care deeply about sport — from the grassroots where children learn life skills and healthy habits, to the high-performance athletes proudly representing Canada on the world stage,” the COC and CPC said in a joint statement Wednesday.

“The enriching moments Canadians experience, both as participants and cheering fans, should not be taken for granted.

“We continue to advocate for federal investment in National Sport Organization core funding as part of a plan to transform the Canadian sport system and the nation.”

The only sport highlight in Tuesday’s budget reveal was $100 million over the next two years for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, for which Vancouver and Toronto are among the 16 North American host cities.

The $100 million is in addition to the previously announced $115.66 million to British Columbia for Vancouver and $104.34 million to Toronto to support hosting costs.

The 2026 Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy, open Feb. 6 and close Feb. 22, followed by the Paralympic Games there March 6-15.

Canadians won 26 medals — four gold, eight silver and 14 bronze — to rank fourth in the overall medal table in Beijing’s Winter Olympics in 2022. Four gold was the lowest total since Lillehammer in 1994.

Canada’s Paralympians earned 25 medals, including eight gold, to rank third in Beijing.

“I really believe this is the false positive in the system right now,” Judge said. “We are lucky in that false positive because the targeted excellence money, the money that has gone to that top end, that’s been there and stayed there and that has kept some of the blood kind of pumping.

“We’re seeing that already starting to get diminished too. So slowly, but surely, you can’t go as deep in the system. You can’t support as many athletes or as many training camps.”

Athletes received an increase in their monthly Athletes Assistance Program cheques, otherwise known as “carding,” in the 2024 budget. A senior athlete saw a bump from $1,765 per month to $2,175 in their first raise since 2017.

Another $16 million over two years was earmarked for safe sport in the 2024 budget. The COC, CPC and the national network of sport institutes that support athletes received $3.11 million from that last week for mental health services this winter.

The Future of Sport in Canada Commission’s preliminary report in August stated that Canada’s sport system is “severely underfunded” and “urgent need for an injection of funds to ensure that National Sport Organizations can continue operating.”

Corporate sponsorship is not there for NSOs for a number of reasons, Judge said.

“Nobody’s investing in anything” because of economic contraction and the uncertainty created by U.S. tariffs, he said.

Where a company once invested in more than one sport or art entities, they’re cutting back, and Canada’s safe sport crisis has made corporate investors cautious too, Judge added.

“It’s this quadruple low tide that we’ve never experienced before,” he said.

The COC and CPC hoped the $315 billion the feds have committed to building infrastructure works its way into the sport system.

“We note the government’s planned capital investment in infrastructure, and view it as an important moment to address the national sport infrastructure deficit, creating more active, accessible and vibrant communities across the country,” said their statement.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 5, 2025.

Donna Spencer, The Canadian Press