Overview

Own the Podium supports funding partners (Sport Canada (Government of Canada), the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee) by providing expert analysis and insights that help ensure resources are invested where they’ll have the greatest performance impact—now and over the long term.

Our work helps ensure that public and private funds are allocated strategically, transparently, and in alignment with both sport potential and funding partner priorities. This benefits the entire system by making the most of every investment in high-performance sport.

What Funding Supports

Our recommendations help direct funding to key performance drivers within each sport. This includes:

Coaching Excellence – Funding supports access to world-leading coaches and coaching development, ensuring athletes have the leadership they need to excel.
Daily Training and Competition Environments – Investments enhance training facilities, sport-specific equipment, and competition planning that meet world-class standards.
Integrated Support Teams – Funding enables delivery of sport science, medicine, mental performance, and other athlete services that are essential to sustainable success.
Innovation and Research – Resources are directed to projects that apply cutting-edge science and technology to improve how athletes train, recover, and compete.
Gap-Specific Needs – Some funding addresses urgent or emerging performance needs identified by sport-specific plans or shifting circumstances.

Analyzing Medal Potential

Own the Podium develops podium probability models to help determine where performance gains are most likely. These include:

Pre-Games medal potential assessments to guide final investment decisions.
Ongoing medal tracking and analysis before and after major Games and World Championships.
Annual medal potential reviews that provide up-to-date insights across all targeted sports.

Identifying Needs and Setting Expectations

OTP works with each targeted sport to understand their high-performance needs and opportunities for growth. This includes:

Needs analyses to identify the people, systems, and tools required to support podium performance.
Annual assessment that help clarify readiness, support planning, and inform future funding decisions.

Monitoring Progress and Resource Use

OTP tracks how each sport is progressing toward its long-term performance goals and how financial resources are being used:

We conduct in-person and virtual reviews with sport organizations to check in on progress and address emerging needs.
We help identify areas where additional support—or adjustments—may be needed to stay on track.

Evaluating System Impact

After each major Games cycle, we conduct a comprehensive review that looks at what worked, what challenges emerged, and where improvements can be made. These insights help shape future strategies and strengthen accountability across the system.

Supporting Broader Assessments

We also support Sport Canada’s evaluation of national team programs in non-Olympic and non-Paralympic disciplines by auditing against specific criteria. This ensures that funding decisions across the full sport landscape are grounded in evidence and aligned with national priorities.

Why It Matters

By supporting smarter investment in high-performance sport, we help create a more focused, fair, and results-driven system—so that Canadian athletes and teams have the right support, at the right time, to achieve their best.