About 100 Canadian Olympians arrived in Vancouver Monday and were met by dozens of relatives and supporters waving Canadian flags.
The athletes arrived wearing their red and white uniforms at about 3 p.m. local time.
Dominic Seiterle of Victoria, B.C., who won gold as part of the men's eight rowing team, spoke to CTV British and was already thinking of the 2012 Games in London.
"I think it would be great if they could increase funding for all the sports, starting now -- not two years down the road when it's very difficult to pull off good performances," he said at the airport.
Krista Guloien, who competed in quad rowing, was the first to walk down the ramp to meet the media Monday.
"It's really great to represent Canada and I hope I made everyone proud," she said. "All the hard work of the past four years is worth it."
Some of the athletes signed autographs as they greeted their fans.
Canada's 18 medals was the country's second-best performance at a non-boycotted Games. Canada collected 22 in Atlanta in 1996 and 18 in Barcelona in 1992.
Canada won 44 medals at the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles when the Soviet Union-led boycott weakened the Games.
More Olympic athletes were expected to arrive in Toronto and Montreal later Monday, but their flights had been delayed.
With files from The Canadian Press
