T
he 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games concluded in February and, as always, I took away important lessons and parallels from the results of our Olympic team and from the pursuits of our athletes. Congratulations to all of our competitors. I am never more proud to be Canadian than when I watch our athletes compete. Like many Canadians, I am an avid consumer of the Winter Games.
Winter Olympic athletes are hardy people. While most of us living in cold climates are daydreaming about escaping to the sun and warmth, those chasing gold are getting up before dawn to train in below-freezing conditions day after day. Those of us in the cyclical resources business also often work in harsh and remote climates and only get into the spotlight every four or more years. We, too, are hardy people.
Canada finished with 21 medals, our lowest total medal count showing since we won 17 medals in Salt Lake City in 2002. We tallied 26 medals in Beijing in 2022, 29 medals in Pyeongchang in 2018, 25 medals in Sochi in 2014, 26 medals in Vancouver in 2010 and 24 medals in Turin in 2006. Interestingly, since 2002, the total number of medals awarded at the Winter Games has increased by 49 per cent from 234 to 349. Canada invested in athletes and programs leading up to the Vancouver Games and our athletes performed well prior to and after, luring us to believe that athletes wake up one day as the best in the world and continue to stay there.
As investment waned in Canada, our medal results tell the tale, highlighting that structural support for investment in sports is required to sustain the development of top talent. Funding for grassroots sports programming to provide access for young people is more critical than ever to inspire our youth to strive for gold, fostering our treasured Winter Olympic identity.
Investment by the host country in training, infrastructure and support for athletes leading up to the Winter Games historically leads to success for the host country. Italy won 30 medals in these Games and finished third by total medal count, compared with 17 total medals in 2022 and 10 in 2018. By all measures, Italy had a resoundingly successful Games!
Both our men’s and women’s hockey teams took home silver. While our men’s curling team took gold, the women took home bronze. These results underscore how the competition continues to grow stronger, and if we intend to keep our spot as the “best of the best,” we will need to step up.
As with our athletes, Canada’s investment into our resource sector has declined for years, and other countries are usurping our rankings and placements on the resources podium. With the race on to secure metals and materials on the path to net zero, Canada now needs to invest as if we will host the “mining Olympics” every year for the next 20 years to foster the development of a robust resources pipeline.
Our lesson from these Olympics is that prolonged—think decades—sustainable investment in people and structural support is necessary to win on the world stage. Canada’s current focus on critical metals and minerals can be compared to us being chosen as the host country for the Olympics. Let’s use the opportunity to benefit from the government support, investor interest and public sentiment to mine the gold, silver and bronze (copper and tin) to allow us to get back up on those podiums and hear O Canada played on the world stage once again.
