CANADA

Success Profile - Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games Summary

Table 1: Medal Ranking and Number of Medals (1996-2012)

OlympicGames / 1996 / 2000 / 2004 / 2008 / 2012
Gold Medal Rank / 21st / 24th / 21st / 19th / 36th
Medals / Gold–3
Silver–11
Bronze–8
Total - 22 / Gold–3
Silver–3
Bronze–8
Total - 14 / Gold–3
Silver–6
Bronze–3
Total - 12 / Gold–3
Silver–9
Bronze–6
Total - 18 / Gold–1
Silver–5
Bronze–12
Total - 18
No. of Sports / 10 / 11 / 7 / 10 / 11
ParalympicGames / 1996 / 2000 / 2004 / 2008 / 2012
Gold Medal Rank / 7th / 3rd / 3rd / 7th / 20th
Medals / Gold–24
Silver–21
Bronze–24
Total - 69 / Gold–38
Silver–33
Bronze–25
Total - 96 / Gold–28
Silver–19
Bronze–25
Total - 72 / Gold–19
Silver–10
Bronze–21
Total - 50 / Gold–7
Silver–15
Bronze–9
Total - 31
No. of Sports / 6 / 9 / 7 / 7 / 7

Table 2: Successful Profile of Targeted Sports - Summer Olympic/Paralympic Games (1996-2012)

Olympic Games / 1996 / 2000 / 2004 / 2008 / 2012
Athletics / 2 - 0 - 0 = 2 / - / - / 0 - 0 - 1 = 1 / 0 - 0 - 1 = 1
Canoeing / 0 - 1 - 0 = 1 / 0 - 1 - 1 = 2 / 1 - 0 - 2 = 3 / 0 - 1 - 1 = 2 / 0 - 1 - 2 = 3
Cycling / 0 - 2 - 3 = 5 / - / 1 - 1 - 0 = 2 / - / 0 - 0 - 1 = 1
Diving / 0 - 0 - 1 = 1 / 0 - 1 - 1 = 2 / 0 - 1 - 1 = 2 / 0 - 2 -0 = 2 / 0 - 0 - 2 = 2
Gymnastics / - / 0 - 0 - 2 = 2 / 1 - 1 - 0 = 2 / 0 - 2 - 0 = 2 / 1 - 0 - 0 = 1
Rowing / 1 - 4 - 1 = 6 / 0 - 0 - 1 = 1 / 0 - 1 - 0 = 1 / 1 - 1 - 2 = 4 / 0 - 2 - 0 = 2
Swimming / 0 - 1 - 2 = 3 / 0 - 0 - 1 = 1 / - / 0 - 0 - 1 = 1 / 0 - 1 - 2 = 3
Wrestling / 0 - 1 - 0 = 1 / 1- 0 - 0 = 1 / 0 - 1 - 0 = 1 / 1 - 0 - 1 = 2 / 0 - 1 - 1 = 2
Paralympic Games / 1996 / 2000 / 2004 / 2008 / 2012
Athletics / 10 - 16 - 13 =39 / 12 - 15 - 10 = 37 / 10 - 4 - 10 = 24 / 10 - 1 - 8 = 19 / 1 - 5 - 3 = 9
Wheelchair Basketball / 1 - 0 - 0 = 1 / 2 - 0 - 0 = 2 / 1 - 0 - 1 = 2 / 0 - 1 - 0 = 1 / 1 - 0 - 0 = 1
Cycling / 3 - 1 - 3 = 7 / 0 - 2 - 1 = 3 / - / 0 - 0 - 2 = 2 / 1 - 0 - 1 = 2
Swimming / 9 - 2 - 8 = 19 / 23 - 15 - 10 = 48 / 15 - 14 - 11 = 40 / 7 - 7 - 9 = 23 / 4 - 9 - 3 = 16
Wheelchair Rugby / - / - / 0 - 1 - 0 = 1 / 0 - 0 - 1 = 1 / 0 - 1 - 0 = 1

High Performance System Summary

Overview /
  • The sport system in Canada is made up of a number of organisations that provide sport programs and services at the national, provincial/territorial and municipal level.
  • ‘Sport Canada’ (a branch of the Federal Government Department of Canadian Heritage) develops national sport policies, allocates funding to sport, and administers and implements national programs such as ‘Own the Podium’ (OTP).
  • Sport Canada funds the high performance sport system through the OTP. The OTP leads the Canadian high performance systems, and prioritises and determines the investment strategies and funding allocations to Olympic and Paralympic sports.
  • Approximately 1,800 elite athletes receive financial support.

Leading High Performance Agencies /
  • Own the Podium (OTP) - is a not-for-profit organisation.
  • Canadian Sport Centres (CSCs) – a national network of eight high performance training centres (or institutes) in each province/territory including Calagary, Montreal, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Atlantic, Quebec,and Pacific. CSC are responsible for facilitating the daily training environment (DTE) for the system.
  • Canadian Olympic Committee– National Olympic Committee.
  • Canadian Paralympic Committee– National Paralympic Committee.
  • Coaching Association of Canada – national coach advocacy and coaching accreditation body.

Performance Targets /
  • The OTP has set a target for Canada to finish within the top twelve (12) competing nations at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games based on an overall medal count (i.e. total number of medals won).
  • The OTP has set a target for Canada to finish within the top twelve (12) competing nations at the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games based on the official International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Gold medal tally.

Investment Profile /
  • CAN $123.5 million ($123m AUD) - 2012/13
  • OTP income sources (2013/14):Sport Canada ($63,597,761); Canadian Olympic Committee ($11,667,113); Ontario Government ($555,000); Canadian Paralympic Committee ($303,794); corporate sponsorship ($367,477).
  • OTP Expenditure (2013/14): summer sports ($30,220,000); winter sports($25,087,715), summer Paralympic specific sports ($1,830,000).
  • Sport Canada (2013/14) – athlete financial assistance ($27m); attracting and hosting major sporting events ($20m).
  • Canadian provincial and territorial governments contribute further funding into the system (estimated to be betweenCAN$30m to $50m). This funding is largely focussed toward the CSCs (high performance training centres).

Operating Approach /
  • OTP prioritises and determines the investment strategies and funding allocations to Olympic and Paralympic national sporting organisations (NSOs).OTP recommends the sports, events, teams, and athletes to be targeted, and provides advice to Government (Sport Canada) concerning the broader investment strategies to permit NSOs to contribute to the medal targets endorsed by the OTP Board.
  • OTP funds winter Olympic sports to a relatively high level. It also provides funding for coaching/technical leadership, training and competitions, sports science and sport medical support, and organisational capability development.
  • Sport Canada (through the OTP) contributes funding to the Canadian Sport Centres (CSCs) network. However, the CSCs are principally funded and operated by their respective provincial and territorial governments.
  • Federal Government support to the CSCs network is based on the following principles:
  • Services complement and enhance programming for targeted national teams;
  • Services are provided in line with the principles of long-term athlete development;
  • Delivery of core services are of a consistent standard;
  • Services are available to athletes in accordance with their official language needs;
  • Partnerships at both the national and provincial levels are important for the development of a sustainable Canadian sport system; and
  • Support is provided for only one CSC per province or region of provinces/territories.
  • OTP funds sports science/medicine research but funding levels appear to have declined since the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics where CAN $2 million was invested in the ‘Top Secret Project’.
  • Sport Canada provides funding for the bidding and hosting of significant sporting events including the ‘Canada Games’ and upcoming ‘Pan Am Games’.

Athlete Financial Assistance /
  • In 2013/14 Sport Canada allocated CAN$27m to approximately 1,800 elite athletes for financial assistance. There are five athlete funding assistance categories Senior Card (SR1, SR2, SR3) – CAN $1,500 per month; First Year Senior Card (C1) – CAN $900 per month; and Development Card (D) – CAN $900 per month (note: includes winter sport athletes).
  • Registered amateur athletes are eligible to receive tax assistance.

System Strengths /
  • A targeted and performance based approach to funding sports, particularly Winter Games sports, has led to strong performance outcomes.
  • OTP’s strategic investment principles and coordination of resources at a national level reduces duplication and inefficiency across the system.
  • Canada possesses a strong coach development system led by theCoaching Association of Canada.
  • Easier access to theUnited States, university sports system, including the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) scholarship program and its various competitions.
  • Strong focus and investment in sport information research and literature service to coaches, scientists and other leading sports practitioners through the Sport Information Resources Centre (SIRC).

System Weaknesses /
  • A priority focus on funding and supporting Winter Olympic sports over the past decade appears to have had a detrimental impact on Canada’s Summer Olympic and Paralympic performance.
  • Difficult for Summer Olympic NFs to compete with professional codes such as ice-hockey for emerging athletic talent – particularly with talented junior men.
  • Lower levels of sports science/medicine servicing and research in comparison to other competing nations.

Relevance to Australian Environment /
  1. The Federal Government (Sport Canada) relies on high performance sportstrategy and investment advice provided by the independent and not-for-profit organisation, OTP.
  1. The OTP prioritises and determines the investment strategies and funding allocations to all Olympic and Paralympic sports.
  1. The OTP has established a set of principles to guide and coordinate investment across the federated network of CSCs
  1. The CSCs are principally funded by their respective provincial and territorial governments.
  1. A reforming and improving system—Sport Canada and the OTP continue to lead and implement significant high performance system reforms (for example, the recent expansion of OTP’s remit to include Summer Olympic/Paralympic sports)
  1. Canada shares a similar population and geographic size.

Further information –

10/07/2014