the CanadaVisa Team - 22 July, 2015
Canada has more than 40,000 registered cricket players across the country, according to Cricket Canada, and perhaps 50,000 more who are not registered in a league. Cricket has been growing in popularity over the years in Canada, mainly due to immigrants who have brought their passion for the sport to Canada from the Commonwealth countries in South Asia and the Caribbean, and from the UK, Australia, and New Zealand.
The Government of Canada recently announced that Cricket Canada has been approved to receive federal funding to encourage the growth and management of the sport in Canada. The organization is receiving $77,000 this year and no funding ceiling has been determined.
Cricket has long-established roots in Canada. The first matches date back 150 years and it was once declared a national sport by Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald.
In Ontario, Cricket is now featured as a varsity sport at the high school level. About 150 schools in the Greater Toronto Area are involved.
Canada's national cricket team just recently named a new side captain, Zubin Surkari. Canada will be playing a series of exhibition games against Bermuda on June 28, June 29, and July 1 in King City, Ontario.
