Heritage Minister James Moore made the funding announcement and also announced that former Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan would act as Canada's Paralympic ambassador.

The extra money means the Federal Government will now contribute a total of $32 million (£20 million) to the staging of the Paralympic Games from March 12 through 21.

Of the $12 million (£7.5 million), $10 million (£6.2 million) will be used to stage the Games and $2 million (£1.2 million) will be used for broadcasting them.

Renee Smith-Valade, the spokeswoman for Vancouver 2010, said the money will be used to "make sure that we can. . . be as close to the quality of experience that we've worked so hard to ensure for the Olympic athletes."

When asked if the money was needed because Vancouver's budget had become tight, Smith-Valade said organisers had planned on it.

She said: "We had indications that this funding may be coming to us so we were able to do some planning on the understanding that this funding may be available to us.

"We're delighted that the formal announcement is being made today. We had the plans in place and now we can execute them."

The Government made similar piecemeal funding announcements in the lead-up to the Olympic Games, including money announced for French translation.

Sullivan, 50, a quadriplegic, expects to take part when the Paralympic torch relay begins next week in Ottawa.

He captured world attention four years ago when he accepted the Olympic flag in Turin on behalf of the city, waving the massive banner by executing a series of spins in his motorised wheelchair.