Quest for Gold Funding

UPDATED: Local Simcoe-Grey athletes received good news from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport recently. They have learned that they will benefit financially from the latest Quest for Gold Funding initiative. Quest for Gold (QFG) Canada Card funding provides direct financial assistance to Ontario athletes so they can compete at the highest national and international levels. 

The funding assists athletes in many ways. The Quest for Gold Funding program encourages athletes to live and train in Ontario and offers eliminates a huge stress component often associated with the time needed to train — compensation — for lost time from work. The program helps athletes successfully pursue excellence in sport while fulfilling their educational goals, increases athlete access to high-performance coaching and enhances training and competitive opportunities available to athletes.

Ontario’s Quest for Gold program was established in January 2006 to provide additional support to Ontario athletes. Quest for Gold Canada Card funding recipients are eligible to receive a 35% topup to their Sport Canada Carding funding amount, to a maximum of $7,500.

An athlete must be:

• an Ontario resident for one year prior to their nomination for carding status
• a member of their provincial/ multi-sport organization (PSO/MSO) and/or their
national sport organization (NSO)
• a recipient of funding under Sport Canada’s Carding program

Here are the names of Simcoe-Grey athletes benefiting from the Quest for Gold Funding:

Abby Van Groningen is a recipient of Quest for Gold Funding. Simcoe-Grey MPP Brian Saunderson contacted Abby to pass along the great news.

“Abby, you are one of 7 high-performance athletes in the riding of Simcoe-Grey who have been awarded this funding.  Through Quest for Gold, the province has been consistently funding coaching and training programs, and athletes directly. This program supports athletes like you by providing resources that will help you excel nationally and internationally” MPP Saunderson said. 

“I’m very proud of you as a representative of our community. I hope this funding allows you to continue to take advantage of opportunities available to you and plays a part in you being a great representative of our province. I admire your commitment to your training and I wish you continued success” he added.

Van Groningen was quick to respond, thankful for the call and funding. “I want to thank you for the call the other day to inform me about the Quest for Gold Funding! The support I receive from Canada, Ontario and even within my own community in Thornbury is incredible and I could not be more grateful for it” Van Groningen said. 

Many Team Canada athletes from Ontario have benefitted from the program, including:

• 2022 Winter Olympics: Ontario athletes comprised 28% of Team Canada, 84% of
whom benefitted from QFG funding during their career
• 2022 Winter Paralympics: Ontario athletes comprised 45% of Team Canada, 95%
of whom benefitted from QFG during their career
• 2020 Summer Olympics: Ontario athletes comprised 49% of Team Canada, 89%
of whom benefitted from QFG funding during their career
• 2020 Summer Paralympics: Ontario athletes comprised 36% of Team Canada,
98% of whom benefitted from QFG during their career