Federal, provincial governments pledge $15M each for 2025 Invictus Games in B.C.
The federal and British Columbia governments are each committing $15 million in support of the 2025 Invictus Games in Vancouver and Whistler.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Premier John Horgan made the announcement at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.
Trudeau said that as the first Invictus Games to feature adaptive winter sports, the event will be “uniquely Canadian.” An additional $1 million in federal funds will be provided to the Soldier On program to support the participation of Canadian veterans in the games.
“For the first time ever, and classically Canadian, these games will include winter sports,” he told a cheering audience at the announcement Tuesday.
“We all know that when it comes to winter sports, our Canadian competitors will show them how it's done.”
The games will feature alpine skiing, Nordic skiing, skeleton and wheelchair curling as well as swimming, indoor rowing, sitting volleyball, wheelchair rugby and wheelchair basketball.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, announced in April that Vancouver and Whistler won the bid to host the eight-day international sports competition for wounded and ill military veterans in February 2025.
Over 500 athletes from more than 20 nations are expected to compete in 2025.
Horgan called the announcement the “best possible news” for British Columbia.
“We will have, as the prime minister said, in a quintessentially Canadian way, the first hybrid and the first winter games, including sliding events, skiing events at Whistler,” he said. “World-class events are going to be taking place here.”
Nick Booth, chief executive officer of True Patriot Love, said the games are named after Victorian era British poet William Ernest Henley who wrote the poem, Invictus. True Patriot Love is a charity that supports Canadian Armed Forces members, veterans, and their families.
A senior British general who knew the poem decided to call the games Invictus because they spoke to the mission of using sport for recovery, he said. The poem was written in 1875.
“The lyrics behind the poem are that sort of dark journey that people go on, and come out the other end still being the person that you were before injury,” Booth said.
Trudeau said he talked with former athletes before the announcement about how sports help with recovery and healing, and the “profound impact” the games had on helping the former service members get better.
The games help injured veterans learn that while they are not the same as they were before, it doesn't mean they “can't be a world-class competitor,” he said.
“You can have every bit of that drive and that push and that quest to give all you are to your teammates, to your service, to your country,” he said.
“That's what Invictus allows. Not just competitors but the comrades, the families and all of us to live, to experience, to celebrate.”
Natacha Dupuis, a retired master corporal who co-captained Team Canada during the 2017 Invictus Games in Toronto, became emotional as she spoke about how sports helped her get her life back.
She was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after her second tour of Afghanistan where two of her comrades were killed and three others were injured, she said.
While therapy helped her a bit, she said it was training as a sprinter for the games that helped her get control of her life.
“The Invictus Games are not about medals or about winning,” she said.
“They're about progressing in your recovery as part of a community who understands and supports you. They are also about building lifelong friendships and support systems amongst peers. I hope the city is ready to be inspired and touched by the incredible spirit and resiliency of the Invictus Games athletes. I promise that you won't be disappointed. It will blow your mind.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 24, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Celebrations, protests take place on Canada Day in Ottawa
Thousands of people wearing red and white and waiving Canadian flags packed downtown Ottawa to celebrate Canada's 155th birthday on Friday, while groups of protesters popped up around Parliament Hill to protest COVID-19 vaccines and federal restrictions.

'It's recent': Survivor reflects on last Sask. residential school closing 25 years ago
It's been 25 years since Saskatchewan's last residential school closed, but some are still healing.
Biden intends to nominate a conservative, anti-abortion lawyer to federal judgeship, Kentucky Democrats say
U.S. President Joe Biden intends to nominate an anti-abortion Republican lawyer to a federal judgeship, two Kentucky Democrats informed of the decision say.
'Summer of recovery': Pandemic-stricken tourism industry sees signs of optimism
Canada Day has kicked off the unofficial start of summer, and the tourism sector is hopeful the first season in three years largely free of COVID-19 restrictions will marshal a much-needed boost for a pandemic-stricken industry.
'You do not want this' virus: California man with monkeypox urges others to get vaccinated
A California man has posted a widely-shared video in an attempt to educate people about the monkeypox virus outbreak, to encourage people to get vaccinated if they're eligible and to make it very clear: 'You do not want this.'
West Vancouver retiree heading back to Ukraine to help abandoned animals
When Dan Fine returned from his first trip volunteering at animal shelters on the Polish-Ukrainian border in late April, he immediately felt compelled to return to continue helping pets that have been left behind in the war.
'We have to build bridges': Canadian singer Chantal Kreviazuk on Ukraine, reconciliation
Moving toward reconciliation doesn't come from jumping 'the queue to perfection,' but by building bridges and trusting one another, Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk told CTV News Channel during Canada Day celebrations in Ottawa on Friday.
The Canadian flag in the context of 'Freedom Convoy' and residential schools
In the wake of last year’s discoveries of unmarked graves at residential schools and the prominent displays of the Canadian flag during 'Freedom Convoy' protests, some Canadians are re-evaluating the meaning of the national symbol.
'Not going to happen in our lifetime': First-time homebuyers share their struggles with purchasing a home
A recent survey shows nearly 50 per cent of Canadians who rent expect to do so forever. As rising interest and inflation rates contribute to a sense of pessimism among first-time homebuyers in Canada, some are sharing their struggles with purchasing their first house.