Cross-Country Canada (CCC) Executive Director Davin Macintosh claim that the cuts represented 56 per cent of the programme’s funding from Own the Podium (OTP), the high-performance sports initiativeset up to propel Canadian athletes to medals at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver.

The exact impacts of the cuts are still uncertain, as CCC works to restructure its programme in the next few weeks.

But Macintosh said that the cuts, first reported by the CBC, will force the team to scale back its athlete support.

"In the long term, we’ll have to run a more streamlined programme, which probably means fewer staff who can do a wider variety of jobs, he said.

The able-bodied team have received cuts of only three per cent.

"If they knew we had three Para-Nordic athletes who were on the cusp of winning all the international competitions, they’d give us more money there, and that’s what we have on the able-bodied side,” Macintosh said.

"Our Olympic results showed that we have a strong team of people who will be around for the next Olympics, and have obvious and proven potential to reach the podium."

According to OTP Director of Winter Sport Ken Read, his organisation conducts yearly reviews, in which each sport receiving OTP funding is categorised according to its recent and historical results, as well as its future potential.

The higher the category, the more support a sport receives.

Able-bodied cross-country is a category two sport, as is visually impaired cross-country, given McKeever’s success at the 2010 Paralympics, where he won three gold medals.

But the other Para-Nordic disciplines are rated one rung down on the ladder, as a category three.

"Those that have earned it get the broader support and the deeper down it will go," said Read.

"So it’s into supporting camps, supporting coaches, supporting the integrated support teams.

“That’s where you have the able-bodied programme.

"The hope is, going forward to 2014, that Devon [Kershaw] will find a couple hundredths of a second, and…we are working with them right now on a nordic consortium of trying to entrench some of those programmes that worked well.”

One example he cited was a project involving base grinding and ski technicians.

Read said that the categorisations were evaluated on a year-to-year basis, and that the level of support for the Para-Nordic team would be reconsidered next spring, "based on results".

The initiative was designed to provide extra financing specifically earmarked for athletes with strong chances of winning Olympic and Paralympic medals.

But over time, the money allotted to the Para-Nordic Ski Team - some $630,000 (£386,000) last year - had come to finance a large portion of its operations.

"The programme grew extremely rapidly over the past four years thanks to rapid increases in support from OTP, and that created a much larger budget," Macintosh said.

The OTP had targeted three athletes during the 2010 Paralympics - McKeever (pictured), Jody Barber, and Colette Bourgonje - only McKeever will continue to receive money for the next four-year Paralympic cycle.

Bourgonje has said that Vancouver was her last Paralympic Games, and “the remainder of the athletes in the programme weren’t seeming to have gold medal potential,” Read said.

“In Paralympic [sports], it’s gold medal potential, not deep athlete development,” Read said.

"The sport is supposed to be taking on that role of upkeep."

The team has already been forced to cancel a planned summer training trip to New Zealand, and while funding exists for a trip to World Championships in Norway next year, the extent of the team’s participation in World Cup races earlier in the winter remains unclear.

"We will probably be able to finance fewer athletes to go on the general World Cup circuit, although we will ensure that our athletes are well-prepared for [World Championships]," Macintosh said.

No staff members have been laid off, but job descriptions will probably have to change, Macintosh added.

CCC is currently negotiating with Para-Nordic Head Coach Kaspar Wirz, who Macintosh said will likely continue in a "less-than-full-time capacity."

Technical Coach Robin McKeever - who also serves as a guide for his brother, Brian - would have to take on "a few more responsibilities" to remain with the team.

"We don’t have signed contracts with them," Macintosh said.

"It’s up to them."

Macintosh said that he hoped to be able to make up for some of the cuts by finding new sponsors for the Para-Nordic team.

CCC has been discussing options with potential backers, and the exposure gained by the athletes during the Vancouver Games should go a long way towards helping them find potential supporters, Wirz said.

"I think now, the public is ready to support that," he said.