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From: Ontario News <newsroom@ontario.ca>
Date: Fri, Jun 10, 2016 at 1:42 PM
Subject: Ontario Investing $16.76 Million to Support Athletes and Sporting Events
To: rightbuy18@gmail.com

News Release

Ontario Investing $16.76 Million to Support Athletes and Sporting Events

June 10, 2016

Province Providing Ontario's Athletes More Opportunities to Succeed

Ontario is investing $16.76 million towards Ontario athletes and sporting events, helping athletes reach the highest levels of international competition and supporting the ongoing operation of key sporting venues.

Michael Coteau, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport, made the announcement today at the Diving Canada 2016 Olympic Diving Trials/National Championships in Toronto.

Initiatives announced include:

$9.76 million through Ontario's Quest for Gold program, including $6.36 million in direct funding for 1,258 athletes and $3.4 million this year through sport organizations to enhance coaching, training and competitive opportunities for athletes and their coaches.
$7 million toward the TORONTO 2015 Sport Legacy Fund, which is helping the long-term development of amateur sport by supporting the ongoing operation and maintenance of key legacy facilities of the Games. This includes the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, the Mattamy National Cycling Centre and the Pan Am and Parapan Am Athletics Stadium at York University.
$15,000 for the 2016 Olympic Diving Trials and National Championships, through Ontario's Sport Hosting Program, which is investing up to $2 million for national and international sporting events hosted in Ontario.

Minister Coteau was also joined today by Pachi, the wildly popular porcupine mascot of the TORONTO 2015 Pan Am/Parapan Am Games. Pachi has returned as the new mascot of Games Ontario, with a new uniform and red, green and blue quills.

Supporting athletes and sporting events is part of the government's economic plan to build Ontario up and deliver on its number-one priority to grow the economy and create jobs. The four-part plan includes investing in talent and skills, including helping more people get and create the jobs of the future by expanding access to high-quality college and university education. The plan is making the largest investment in public infrastructure in Ontario's history and investing in a low-carbon economy driven by innovative, high-growth, export-oriented businesses. The plan is also helping working Ontarians achieve a more secure retirement.

QUICK FACTS

Ontario has tripled its support for amateur sport from $8.78 million in 2003 to more than $27 million in 2015-16.
Ontario's $7 million in the TORONTO 2015 Sport Legacy Fund, brings the total provincial investment in the fund to $12 million.
Last summer, Ontario athletes, as part of Team Canada, won 109 Pan Am medals and 63 Parapan Am medals, which accounted for 45 per cent of all medals won by Team Canada.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

QUOTES

"The Ontario government is committed to providing resources that high-performance athletes and coaches need to excel. Quest for Gold has been achieving this for 10 years now. This year is an especially important one, with Ontario's best athletes focused on getting to the top of the podium at the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games."
— Michael Coteau, Minister of Tourism, Culture and Sport

"The Quest for Gold funding is tremendous news for Ontario athletes like me. Before any of us can win a medal, or qualify for an international competition, we have to put in thousands of hours of training. I am so grateful for this support because being able to train with the best athletes and coaches in the country, at the best facilities, will inspire me to reach my fullest potential."
— Celina Toth, Canadian National Diving Champion