The money will be invested over the next two years.

The new funding aims to provide young people with fresh opportunities to be involved in curling and try the sport out in a fun, welcoming and inclusive environment.

"Feeling a sense of connection is now a priority for youth, families and communities after spending the past 18 months in isolation," said Helen Radford, Curling Canada’s youth curling and NextGen manager.

"Returning to sport and learning new skills - such as curling - creates more long-term opportunities for youth and benefits their physical and mental health."

With curlers eyeing a safe return to the sport this season, Curling Canada has pledged to support between 30 and 60 new on-ice programmes that will last for at least two years and focus on built-in sustainability, inclusivity and reaching new and diverse participants.

The governing body is calling on community curling leaders to share scheme concepts for a chance to qualify for funding of anywhere from CAD1,250 (£716/$994/€840) to CAD5,000 (£2,867/$3,977/€3,370) per year.

The investment aims to build on Canada's rich history in curling.

The sport featured at the 1924 Winter Olympic Games in Chamonix, then return to the full programme at Nagano 1998.

Since 1998, Canadians have won 11 Olympic medals across the men's, women's and mixed doubles events, including three consecutive golds from 2006 to 2014 for the men's team.

This puts them top of the Games' all-time curling medal table.

The curling competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics will be held at the Beijing National Aquatics Centre from February 2 to 20 and Canada have qualified for all three events.