WADA welcomes significant additional investment from the Government of Canada

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is grateful to the Government of Canada for its additional contribution of USD 748,390 (CAD 936,108) to WADA, which will be dedicated primarily to the Agency’s scientific research and intelligence and investigations (I&I) activities. In addition, around USD 55,000 of the contribution has been earmarked for education.

These funds are additional to the USD 1,465,962 that the Canadian Government has contributed to WADA’s regular 2021 budget, which are in turn matched by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on behalf of the Sports Movement. The additional funds are part of an initiative announced in November 2019 by IOC President Thomas Bach aimed at further strengthening WADA’s scientific research and I&I activities. Under this initiative, additional contributions provided by Governments are matched by the IOC, which means that this latest commitment from Canada will yield almost USD 1.5 million extra for WADA and the global anti-doping system.

WADA President Witold Bańka said: “This is a remarkable demonstration of commitment to WADA and anti-doping by the Canadian Government, which over the years has shown itself to be a strong supporter of WADA’s collaborative global mission for doping-free sport, including through its hosting of the Agency’s headquarters in Montreal since 2002. The Agency is very thankful to Canada and commits to investing this contribution wisely in the crucial area of scientific anti-doping research, and towards the ever-expanding efforts of our independent Intelligence and Investigations Department.”

Minister of Canadian Heritage, the Honourable Steven Guilbeault, said: “The Government of Canada supports the efforts of the World Anti-Doping Agency to ensure a level playing field for all athletes whenever and wherever they compete. Through our ongoing support to WADA and its headquarters located in Montréal, our government remains firmly committed to the anti-doping movement to protect the interests of clean athletes. With this additional contribution to WADA, Canada is proud to join other countries that have responded positively to the IOC pledge. This support will help increase the Agency’s capacity to conduct scientific research and investigations, as well as broaden anti-doping education activities.”

President Bańka continued: “WADA is also grateful to the International Olympic Committee because every dollar we receive from Governments under this initiative is being matched by the IOC. It has been very encouraging to witness the uptake by governments for this initiative since it was first announced in November 2019. When it comes to research and investigations, WADA has made significant advances in recent years and we hope much more will be achieved with additional funding in place. I appeal to other governments to join forces and take advantage of this opportunity.”

In December 2020 and January 2021, WADA announced details of additional contributions received from the Governments of China, Cyprus, Greece, India, Poland and Saudi Arabia, and others having been pledged by Egypt and France. With Canada’s contribution, the total pledged under this initiative to date is more than USD 7.07 million.