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Three sliding sports will soon come under one administrative umbrella in Canada.
Bobsleigh Skeleton Canada and Luge Canada announced an agreement to amalgamate on Thursday, with the goal of beginning operations as one entity in the spring of 2027.
The news comes as national sport organizations are being encouraged to consider amalgamation and sharing services as a way to be more financially sustainable. The Future of Sport in Canada Commission’s final report, released this past spring, said many national sport organizations would need to amalgamate “to ensure their long-term stability and survival.”
“Canada’s sport system is changing, and we would rather lead that change than wait for it,” Kien Tran, CEO of Bobsleigh Skeleton Canada, said in a statement. “Bringing our organizations together creates efficiencies, gives us greater scale and strengthens our ability to attract investment and partnerships. Ultimately, that means more capacity to invest in our athletes, coaches and programs and build a stronger future for Canadian sliding sports.”
National sport organizations are seeing funding increases across the board, following a massive injection of federal dollars toward sport in Canada at the federal level. It’s much-needed cash that sport organizations have called for over years.
But that money has also come with a call to do things differently, including pursuing mergers and finding more money from the corporate sector.
Canada’s secretary of state for sport, Adam van Koeverden, said he was “thrilled” to see the two organizations collaborating.
National sport organizations have been encouraged to look for more corporate partnerships and consider mergers to become more financially sustainable. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)
“For any individual or group, change can be intimidating and scary at times,” van Koeverden said on Thursday.
“But like all athletes, national sport organizations want to continually improve and analyze what gaps they might have in their service delivery. So I really encourage that self-reflection and that analysis in the same way that every athlete in the off season will be looking at their strengths and weaknesses and opportunities to improve.”
Bobsleigh Skeleton Canada and Luge Canada have received nearly $3 million in funding from Sport Canada in 2026-27. That includes more than $1.5 million this year to support the work behind bringing the two organizations together as one.
‘Preserving what makes each sport special’
The agreement between Bobsleigh Skeleton Canada and Luge Canada includes a “joint process” that outlines how the two organizations will come together, from establishing legal, organization and governance structures, to how it will handle high-performance. It’s not yet clear what name the new organization will have.
The timeline of spring 2027 is subject to “necessary board and membership approvals.”
“This is about building something stronger together while preserving what makes each sport special,” Tim Farstad, executive director of Luge Canada, said in a statement. “Luge, bobsleigh and skeleton each have their own culture, history and community. We want to carry those identities forward, learn from what each sport does well, and bring their strengths together to create something even better for athletes, coaches and the broader sliding community.”
Bobsleigh, skeleton and luge have produced a combined 17 Olympic medals for Canada, but none of those came at the 2026 Games.
Looking ahead, slider Hallie Clarke (skeleton) will be among Canada’s top hopes to get back on the podium at the track.
Skeleton athlete Hallie Clarke said the merger between Bobsleigh Skeleton Canada and Luge Canada represents a bright future for sliding sports. (Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press)
Clarke said the merger is the beginning of “a bright future for Canada’s sliding sports” that will open up more opportunity for collaboration for athletes and coaches.
“The sliding sport community is a relatively small and a tight knit community that often connects with each other for support and perspective,” Clarke said in a statement.
“In skeleton, we recently hired a new coach, Rob Fegg, who was previously the head coach of Luge Canada. We are already seeing the benefits of this addition. Our sport is constantly changing and evolving, and bringing in someone with a different perspective is exactly what we needed to continue to grow and develop.”
