Alberta's Showcase


Alberta is proud to participate in and support Canada’s Games, to celebrate our achievements and showcase our spirit, talent and diversity.

Own The Podium 2010

Canada’s national Own the Podium program was launched in 2005 and is an unprecedented commitment to Canadian winter sport that spans every discipline and region. It is a promise to Canadian athletes that they will have solid support from training ground to finish line. It sets the highest possible standard for performance on the world’s most demanding stage. Athletes do not receive direct funding from the program but they do receive support to achieve their full potential.

Own the Podium 2010 was designed to help Canada’s winter athletes win the most medals at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games and to place in the top three nations (based on gold medal count) at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games.

Own the Podium 2010 was a collaborative effort supported by Canada’s winter national sport organizations (NSOs) and the country’s major winter sport funding partners, including Sport Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee, the Canadian Paralympic Committee, WinSport Canada, the Government of British Columbia, VANOC, and several VANOC corporate sponsors.

Alberta’s Own the Podium

Working with Alberta’s Olympic and Paralympic Secretariat, WinSport (formerly the Calgary Olympic Development Association) will study, research and develop recommendations for an Alberta-based sport development program styled after the national Own the Podium 2010 program, not to give athletes direct funding, but rather additional support so they can achieve their full potential.

WinSport will determine what is needed to establish an Alberta Own the Podium program, including:

  • The criteria for qualifying athletes.
  • Additional financial support of Alberta-based, high-performance athletes.
  • The costs and benefits of providing resources and expertise in coaching, sport psychology, physiology, and biomechanics.
  • The framework and funds required to develop and pilot the program.

Podium Alberta

The Government of Alberta supports the province’s nationally-carded high performance athletes through Podium Alberta. The program was launched by the Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation (http://www.asrpwf.ca/) in April 2008 and reimburses athletes up to $6,000 a year for eligible training and competition expenses.

Eligible athletes are identified by their governing sport body and Sport Canada. Selection is based on their potential to achieve top results at the Olympics, Paralympics or World Championships.  In 2008, 230 athletes from 42 sports received Podium Alberta funding.

For more information on Podium Alberta, contact:

Steven Patrick
Alberta Sport, Recreation, Parks and Wildlife Foundation
(780) 644-4897
steven.patrick@gov.ab.ca