As a teenager, Jane Roos was one of the country’s most promising young talents in track and field, with Olympic aspirations to represent Canada in the heptathlon. At age 18, those aspirations came to an abrupt halt after a devastating car accident brought an end to her athletic career.

While tragedy marked the end of her personal pursuit of Olympic glory, it also served as a catalyst for a new pursuit that would help countless other Canadians achieve their own sporting dreams. While recovering in hospital from the spinal surgery needed to repair the broken back suffered in the accident, Jane set about raising money to fund fellow athletes pursuing the upcoming Olympic games [Sydney]*, creating the vision for a charity that would help bridge the gap between good and great for promising Canadian athletes by providing them with direct financial support. Shortly thereafter, the Canadian Athletes Now Fund was founded.

Fast forward to today, and CANFund has provided direct financial support to 80% of Canadian Olympians spanning every Games from Athens 2004 to the upcoming Games in Milano-Cortina in 2026. In recent years, reliance on the funding CANFund offers has become even more acute for many, as rising costs place an added squeeze on athletes. Add to this the Federal government’s announcement earlier this month that they would not increase core funding for National Sport organizations from their most recent increase 20 years ago, and the prospects of competing on the world stage for many of Canada’s top athletes have become evermore unfeasible. 

Today on the shakeout podcast, CANFund founder Jane Roos joins the show to discuss how CANFund is gearing up to meet a record number of applicants and why it’s more important than ever for Canadians to support the athletes that represent our country on the global stage.

Find out more about CANFund HERE

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