There are a number of different organizations, both government and non-government, that play different roles in sport.  The two areas that are important to understand are governance and funding.

Governance

In Canada, each sport is governed by a National Sport Organization (NSO).  Athletics Canada,  Shooting Federation of Canada, and Karate Canada are all NSOs.  These are non-government organizations with their own corporate entities.  The NSO is responsible for developing and delivering national programs (such as coaching certification and Long Term Athlete Development), setting national competitive technical regulations and policies, national championships and national team programs.

Each Province and Territory also has its own Provincial/Territorial Sport Organization (PTSO), which looks after provincial delivery of programs for that sport.  This can include provincial competitive programs and provincial championships.  In most sports, there 10-13 PTSOs, one in each province and territory, where there is sufficient registration of participants.   Generally speaking, the PTSOs have quite a lot of influence in how the NSO operates, because the NSO has to service its PTSOs. 

At a local level, clubs offer programs for individual participants.  The club is usually a member of the PTSO for their province – Lions is a member of Athletics Ontario. Clubs usually operate as either a for-profit business, or as a not-for-profit volunteer based organization. In many sports, PTSO membership allows a club to participate in competitive events, provides insurance to participants and to clubs.  

At the international level, each sport also has an International Federation (IF), which is the international governing body and which establishes the rules for international competition.  It is also responsible for World Championships.  The IF for athletics is the International Amateur Athletic s Federation (IAAF).

Funding

Funding for sport in Canada is quite interesting, and somewhat complicated.  The primary national funding body for sport is Sport Canada, which is part of the federal ministry of Canadian Heritage.  Most NSOs receive at least a level of basic funding from Sport Canada.  NSOs that are Olympic sports tend to receive highest priority, as do sports that are part of other major games (e.g. Commonwealth Games, Pan Am Games).  Sport Canada uses the Sport Funding and Accountability Framework (SFAF) to rank NSOs according to a variety of factors (including international performance) and this ranking determines if the NSO will receive funding, and how much they will receive.   All funding is allocated on the government fiscal year - April 1 - March 31.

PSOs receive funding from the provincial government equivalent of Sport Canada.

NSOs of sports that are considered to have a high probability of winning medals in the Olympics may also receive specific targeted funding from Own the Podium (OTP).   Although this funding originates from Sport Canada, OTP is an arms-length organization dedicated to excellence (medals) at the Olympics.  The OTP website has more information about the Canadian sport system at:  http://www.ownthepodium2010.com/About/high_performance.aspx 
 
NSOs of Olympic sports also work closely with the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC).  COC is responsible for Summer and Winter Olympic Games teams, as well as for the Pan Am Games teams, and it offers a number of additional special funding programs.   The COC is a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which is the organization that is in charge of the Olympic Games.

The Coaching Association of Canada (CAC) is another non-government organization that provides funding for coaching education programs, in particular the National Coaching Certification Program (NCCP).  Each NSO is responsible for developing its own NCCP, according to the national guidelines that are developed by CAC.  CAC also receives its funding from Sport Canada, then it allocates a NCCP budget to each NSO.

Generally speaking, each NSO will have some level of self-generated revenue.  This may come from membership fees, events, product sales or sponsorships.  This varies greatly between NSOs.