Since the Government of Canada implemented the Federal Policy for Hosting International Sport Events on January 1, 2008, more than 534 international single sport events have qualified for and received funding of $67,628,465 in total. The Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance (CSTA) has compiled a full report for its members of the sports, provinces and cities that have successfully bid for and hosted, or will host, events beginning in 2008 and outlined each year.
“This report provides a snapshot of one aspect of the Federal Government’s contribution to sport in Canada,” said Rick Traer, CEO of the Canadian Sport Tourism Alliance. “While there are many other ways that sport is supported federally, this funding has been a critical component in Canada being able to host international events in our country. As a result, we have improved our facilities, given our athletes home field advantage, reaped the economic benefits of sport tourism, and established Canada as a world leader in bidding for and hosting international sport events.”
Traer also added that “Canada is currently the #2 ranked hosting nation internationally and the #1 bidding nation in 2015 according to the UK’s based SportCal.”
Using data available from Sport Canada as of November 2015, the report will help CSTA members to:
- know which events Canada has hosted for the past eight years;
- understand the federal funding contribution history for events previously held in Canada;
- help build your local/regional sport event bidding and hosting strategy;*
- determine which National Sport Organizations (NSO), cities and provinces are leaders in international sport hosting.
*Events must first be included in the NSO hosting plan submitted annually to Sport Canada
The report, in two files, can be found in the Members Only section of the CSTA website under the hosting programs section. Highlights include:
- 43 different NSO sports that have been supported, from alpine skiing to wrestling;
- an average of 67 events have been hosted each year;
- the average annual federal budget allocation to the program has been $8.5 million.
Note: when reviewing the sport-by-sport chart, users will need to scroll through three consecutive pages to access all eight years of data.
The information compiled by CSTA focused on International Single Sport Events including International Sport Events for Persons with a Disability which were funded under the Federal Policy. While other events may also qualify for funding from the Federal Government, the hosting data for the following events was not included in this report:
- International Major Multisport Games e.g. (Olympic Games, Pan Am/Parapan American Games, Commonwealth Games);
- International Multisport Games for Aboriginal Peoples and Persons with a Disability;
- International Games not recognised by the federal policy for hosting international sport event e.g. (Masters Games, Police Games);
- International Single Sport Events from an NSO that is not recognised by Sport Canada;
- Canada Games;
- National single sport competition.
The CSTA will update this data on a regular basis.