It was way back in 1867 that Canada had declared cricket as its national game, but its popularity dwindled as baseball started gaining prominence. Now after about nearly 150 years, cricket got rehabilitated in Canada on Friday, June 20, 2008. Helena Guergis, Canadian sports minister (secretary of state) declared federal funding for the promotion of the sport across Canada. A formal ceremony was convened at the Cricket Canada office in which a fresh uniform for the national team was also introduced. Addressing the occasion, Helena Guergis said ‘The government of Canada welcomes Cricket Canada to the list of sports that are eligible to receive funding.’

Helena Guergis added that this was a proud moment for Cricket Canada in the capacity of the national sports organization to get an opportunity to be recognized by the federal government. It was assured that the government of Canada from now on would look after promoting the sport. ‘We look forward to supporting future initiatives (by Cricket Canada), the Canadian sports minister said. Cricket Canada that usually turned to the ICC for funding was presented with a token amount of $77,000 from the federal government for 2007-2008. But it now expected that the funding will be further stepped up for cricket by the Canadian government.