Saanich Commonwealth Place will remain accessible to B.C. families and high-performance athletes, thanks to $1.5 million in combined national and provincial funding, announced Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development Bill Bennett.

The British Columbia government is contributing $750,000 to the Saanich Commonwealth Place Operating Trust Fund. That amount will be matched by national sport organizations, the aquatic community and Own the Podium's strategic investments into targeted high-performance sport organizations, thereby ensuring a world-leading daily training environment.

The funding announced today will ensure that the trust fund will extend until 2019-20 - through the next two Olympic and Paralympic Summer Games cycles.

The Saanich Commonwealth Place Operating Trust Fund was established in 1994 as a legacy of the Commonwealth Games to provide subsidized access to the aquatics clubs training at Saanich Commonwealth Place. At that time, the governments of British Columbia and Canada, along with the Municipality of Saanich, invested a combined $4 million for the purpose of subsidizing high-performance-area operating costs and fees for user groups. The clubs and programming at the facility benefit high-performance athletes and B.C. families.

The trust fund originally was intended to last for 25 years, until 2019. Due to declining interest rates, however, the fund was projected to be depleted by 2014. This would have eliminated the legacy of subsidized access for high-performance athletes and user groups. Without additional investment, users would have been faced with higher fees, estimated to be at least double current rates.

Quotes:

Bill Bennett, Minister of Community, Sport and Cultural Development -

"British Columbians are proud of their Olympic and Paralympic athletes and we want to do all we can to support them, while also encouraging sport and active lifestyles for all British Columbians."

"Today's announcement delivers on both counts, keeping Saanich Commonwealth Place affordable for both B.C. families and for our high-performance athletes. I would like to offer a special thanks to the Honourable Ida Chong for all her hard work as the former minister to help guarantee the support we provide to these athletes and B.C. families."

Bal Gosal, Minister of State (Sport), Government of Canada -

"I am pleased that Saanich Commonwealth Place-an important legacy facility that has produced some of Canada's top athletes and medallists-will continue to assist our talented athletes to pursue their dreams, as well as provide affordable access to the larger community. This partnership between government and the sport sector is a great example of collaboration to help our athletes develop from playground to podium."

Mark Hahto, director of Summer Sport, Own the Podium -

"One of the key elements to achieving a podium performance on the world stage is providing world class daily training environments for Canada's high-performance athletes and coaches. The aquatic facilities at Saanich Commonwealth Place do exactly that - provide our athletes with an ideal training environment."

"Key partners in high-performance sport have come together to ensure that athletes have access to this great facility for the foreseeable future. This is a terrific example of the kind of partnership and collaboration that is needed to enable Canada's athletes to win medals at future Olympic and Paralympic Games."

Saanich Mayor Frank Leonard -

"Saanich is proud to host high-performance athletics at Saanich Commonwealth Place. We are grateful for this partnership with Own the Podium and the provincial government that fulfils the legacy of the 1994 Commonwealth Games."

Quick Facts:

• Several Olympians and Paralympians train at Saanich Commonwealth Place including Olympic medallists Simon Whitfield and Ryan Cochrane and Paralympic medallist Brianna Nelson.

• Saanich Commonwealth Place serves several high-performance user categories including swimming, triathlon, diving, water polo and synchronized swimming.

• The total number of participants at Saanich Commonwealth Place in high-performance programs, school programs and learn-to programs is 3,498.

• On average, approximately 24,000 athletes compete in aquatic competitions per year at Saanich Commonwealth Place. This includes swimming diving, and synchronized swimming meets, along with water polo tournaments.

• The number of annual drop-in visitors is close to 700,000.

Learn More:

Saanich Commonwealth Place: http://saanich.ca/parkrec/recreation/commonwealth.html

Own the Podium: http://ownthepodium.org/

Contact:

Matt Gordon
Communications Director
Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development
250 953-3677