Listen to this article
Approximately 3 minutes
The audio version of this article was created using artificial intelligence technology. Pronunciation errors may occur. We work with our partners to continually analyze and improve results.
There’s a new court for Canadian basketball—six of them, in fact.
The federal government is set to announce a $76 million investment in a new national basketball complex later Wednesday, sources tell CBC Sports.
The state-of-the-art community center, located in Etobicoke, Ontario, on the North Campus of Humber Polytechnic Institute, will become the home of basketball in Canada. It will have six gyms that will be used for provincial, national and international competitions, as well as a high-performance training centre. It will break ground next year and will also serve as the home of Canadian basketball’s national operations.
Meanwhile, the federal government is committing to 32,000 hours of public use each year at the so-called “Hub.”
In finalizing funding for the new site, Canada Basketball will team up with Humber to launch a private donor campaign with naming rights opportunities, while Humber Capital and student contribution distribution will also contribute. The provincial government could also get involved.
For the feds, the facility is the latest in a string of investments that also includes $9.8 million to plan Canada’s national soccer complex, as well as $33.6 million to rebuild the Calgary Olympic Oval, Canada’s National Snowboard Training Center and the National Alpine Centre. These commitments come from the Build Communities Strong Fund (BCSF), a 10-year, $51 billion initiative aimed at developing Canadian infrastructure.
Investment in Canadian basketball will also come from the BCSF.
On Friday, the government announced $2.77 million in additional funding for Alpine Canada, its first and to date only increase to the $660 million core funding for national sports organizations announced in April.
A spokesperson for Sports Minister Adam Van Coeverden told CBC Sports last week that “funding and deployment decisions [were] expected soon.”
Wednesday’s announcement in Humber will feature Van Coeverden, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, Secretary of State for Labor and federal MP John Zerucelli, Canadian Basketball president and CEO Mike Bartlett, and Humber Polytechnic Institute president and CEO Anne Marie Vaughn.
The event will also feature Canadian basketball stars R.J. Barrett, Kelly Olynyk, Michelle Plouffe and Yvonne Ejim.
As of the start of last season, Canada had 23 NBA players declared – second only to the United States – including two-time reigning MVP Shall Gilgeous-Alexander of Hamilton, Ont. There are currently five Canadians playing in the WNBA, including Kia Nurse of the Toronto Tempo.
Canada also ranks in the top seven in international rankings for both men and women. However, achieving success on the world stage has not been easy in most cases.
The women’s team missed out on World Cup qualifying earlier this month and have never won an Olympic medal despite consistently high rankings over the past 15 years.
The men’s team won bronze at the 2023 World Championships, reaching the podium for the first time in the competition’s history, and returned to the Olympics for the first time in 24 years in 2024 before losing to France in the quarter-finals.