National athletes in Victoria welcome pay raise

Canadian national team athletes, many of whom live and practise in Greater Victoria at nine national training centres, are getting a pay bump.

Federal sport minister Kent Hehr made the announcement in Calgary on Friday.

Making a national team gives an athlete carded status through the federal government’s Athlete Assistance Program, 15 per cent of which goes to athletes with a disability.

Senior national team athletes will see their carded funding go up from $1,500 per month to $1,765 per month.

Developmental, or junior national team athletes, will see an increase from $900 per month to $1,060, an 18 per cent increase from the previous rates, which had been in effect since 2004. The new rates go into effect immediately.

National team athletes who are studying are eligible for tuition support, which is being boosted from $5,000 per carding cycle to $5,500, up to a career tuition funding total of $25,500.

There are currently 1,900 Canadian carded athletes, preparing for events such as the Olympic, Commonwealth and Pan Am Games, and their own sports’ World Cups or world championships.

“This [increase] will totally help,” said Sarah Chow of Victoria, a development-level carded athlete on the Canadian women’s softball team, a sport that will return to the Summer Olympics in 2020 at Tokyo.

“This will especially help because of the multiple trips I have to make to Vancouver [the national team is based in Surrey]. Gas and ferries to practice ... to being able to make healthy food choices ... every little bit of [monetary] support helps me.”

Jamie Broder of Victoria represented Canada in beach volleyball at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics and knows what it’s like to be keeping eyes on both bank account and competition.

“This is definitely very much needed by all Canadian athletes,” Broder said. “Many are struggling to make ends meet. Every little bit helps. Because the less you have to worry about financial issues, the more you can focus on your sport and on training.”

This is the 40th year of the athlete assistance program. It has aided more than 15,000 Canadian athletes since 1977 at a cost of $512 million. The program’s budget for 2017-18 is $33 million.

“For many athletes, athlete assistance funding from the government is the only source of income they have while training to compete on behalf of our country,” Jeff Christie, two-time Olympian, and chairman of the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Athlete Commission, said in a statement. “This increase to the Athlete Assistance Program will allow athletes to have less financial concern and concentrate more on training.”