Preface: Message from the Commissioner and Special Advisors

Canada is a sporting nation. Every day Canadians organize and participate in sport and physical activity, whether as athletes, coaches, officials, parents, spectators, administrators or volunteers. These experiences are central to who we are as individuals, families, communities and as a country. They are a vital part of Canadian culture, contributing significantly to health, community cohesion, economic growth, and national pride. They foster inclusion, personal development, and social connections across diverse populations.

Canadians experience sport in countless ways and settings — from learning to skate on backyard rinks and playing on school or community teams, participating as an adult in local soccer and hockey leagues, running in community “race weekend” events, coaching, volunteering, to cheering on Canadian athletes on the world stage. The joy on children’s faces at the finish line, the pride of families and friends supporting their team, and the collective cheers of spectators celebrating the victories of Canadians teams and athletes are moments that are truly priceless. Further, high-performance sport can provide invaluable and life-changing personal growth and development. Elite athletes inspire Canadians to pursue excellence in their own lives. Broad participation in sport creates the pipeline that produces world-class performers and international success.

Yet, beneath the surface of this proud sporting tradition, serious failures have occurred — especially in the ways we protect our children and youth. Sport should be a place of joy, growth, community, and belonging. But for far too many Canadians, especially young athletes, sport has been an environment marked by abuse and insecurity, where they have not been adequately protected and where no one has been held accountable.

In recent years, the public has learned, as has the Commission, of a distressing number of abuse and maltreatment cases involving sport participants — particularly young athletes — across many sports and communities. The magnitude of abuse that has been brought to light — and tolerated — is unacceptable. While some have treated these stories as matters of history, the painful truth is that maltreatment and abuse in sport remain a daily reality. As is evidenced by the revelations made public to this day, they continue to take place, in all provinces, territories and communities across the country and across all sports.

These instances of abuse and maltreatment can take many forms, including: vulnerable children groomed for years and sexually assaulted by their coaches; athletes subjected to grueling diets and restrictions on eating; coaches refusing to allow athletes to receive medical care following injuries and forcing them to continue to train and compete; coaches publicly humiliating and punishing male athletes by forcing them to wear women’s underwear over their competition suits in public until they achieved certain results; physical and sexual abuse perpetrated as part of hazing rituals; athletes publicly humiliating and denigrating the performance of other athletes online as part of incessant cyberbullying; referees and players being subjected to horrific racial abuse, including being called the “N” word, by other players and spectators; parents banned from their children’s practices as a reprisal for reporting incidents of maltreatment and left to agonize about the continued misconduct; coaches retaliating against athletes following the disclosure of maltreatment by forcing them to train excessively or giving them the “silent treatment” and ignoring them thereby subjecting them to psychological abuse; athletes being exploited given their vulnerable financial state, treated as commodities and paraded unwillingly before the media to boost private sponsorships; slander campaigns waged against board members who had the courage to report cases of maltreatment, thereby destroying their reputation and causing long-lasting professional harm; and youth being pressured not to attend school or graduate from high school or spend time with friends under the pretext that they must show full dedication to the sport or else they will fail, resulting in lifelong, adverse consequences.

There is also no doubt that many Canadians have not had equitable access to sport and have not been able to take advantage of the same opportunities as other participants in sport. This is particularly true for people who belong to equity-deserving groups, such as people with disabilities, Black people, people of colour, Indigenous people, and people from 2SLGBTQI+ communities. When they have been able to seize opportunities, it has often been at the cost of financial sacrifices for their families, as well as their dignity and safety.

We have heard heart-wrenching stories of broken dreams, humiliation and destruction. But we have also seen courage and a commitment to make change from numerous individuals across the sport community, many of whom bravely and selflessly shared their experiences with the Commission. Indeed, individuals who have experienced maltreatment and abuse are frequently referred to as “survivors” in recognition of their strength, resilience, and capacity to live beyond trauma and move toward healing.

Despite medals around their necks and records beside their name, some athletes are so broken that they have lost all self-esteem, believe that they deserved these “punishments,” and continue to blame themselves. The blame does not lie at the feet of the survivors and victims, but with those who committed the maltreatment and with a flawed system that too often ignored it and allowed it to happen.

And let us be clear: these harms did not occur in isolation. They are symptoms of deeper systemic weaknesses in Canadian sport structures: governance failures, gaps in oversight and accountability, inadequate safety mechanisms, conflicts of interest, a culture of silence where victims and survivors stay quiet and witnesses look the other way, and a fragmented sport system that too often allowed these behaviours to proliferate rather than preventing them. Sport should protect those who participate in it — particularly children and youth — and every part of the system must acknowledge its role in failing to do so. We saw the lasting pain in the eyes of victims and survivors with whom we met.

As we examined the Canadian sport system, it became very clear that the challenges in Canadian sport are profound — from underfunding and governance deficits, duplication of efforts among organizations, fragmentation and a lack of integration of policies and programs, to an unhealthy focus on high-performance outcomes over participant safety and dignity. Indeed, at times, we wondered whether this can even be described as a “sport system” given the pervasive problems that exist. It is clear to us that the structures of Canadian sport have contributed to the challenges we face. The need for fundamental, systemic change is evident.

Our constitutional and federated governmental model cannot be used as an excuse for inaction. Indeed, in times of national challenges, the federal government, along with the provinces and territories, has stepped forward with leadership and purpose demonstrating that “if there is a will, there is a way.” This is how anti-doping regulations and the previous safe sport mechanism came to be.

But we cannot afford to wait for another front-page story, another complaint or lawsuit, or one more incident, to act. Canadians are demanding action. Sport in Canada is facing a systemic problem and structural flaws that we must address immediately.

Canadians expect, and deserve, transformational and lasting leadership, collaboration, determination and creativity from all orders of government — federal, provincial, territorial and municipal — and from all organizations and participants across the Canadian sport system. This collective movement is needed if we wish to prevent future crisis rather than simply respond to them. Self-interest and personal agendas must be set aside if we are to succeed.

Canadians demand of their political leaders that they recognize and elevate the importance of sport, as they have done for health and education. We all have a role to play. Sport organizations, athletes, participants, parents, fans and communities must all be part of the solution. The future of our children and youth — and their right to safe, positive sport experiences — is at stake.

We appreciate that Canadians, including our governments, are facing a series of fundamental challenges in these tumultuous times. Some striking at the heart of our Canadian identity. But as focus is on nation-building projects, national cohesion, reducing interprovincial barriers and keeping Canadians safe, we must remember that sport can be a powerful vehicle for responding to the challenges and opportunities that confront us. Sport and physical activity are central — indeed vital — components of an active, healthy society that can serve as a Canadian cultural trademark.

Canadians expect meaningful and concrete transformation. They want a system that reliably protects and enhances the well-being of every sport participant by upholding the values of dignity, safety and inclusion — while contributing to the pursuit of sporting achievement and success.

Now is the time to transform beliefs, values, behaviours and practices. Sport in Canada can — and must — become safer, more inclusive and accessible, more efficient, more aligned in purposes and practice, better integrated and more accountable to those it serves, particularly the most vulnerable among us. Every level of government, every organization, and every individual who cherishes sport, and these fundamental Canadian values, must contribute to this shared purpose.

We owe no less to the current generation and all who will come after them.

Change is absolutely essential.

Lise Maisonneuve, Commissioner
Andrew Pipe and Noni Classen, Special Advisors
March 2026