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Executive Summary

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Sport and physical activity are vital threads in the fabric of Canadian life. Canadians take pride in sport and see it not just as a platform for elite competition but also as a means to promote lifelong physical activity, health and social connection. Sport can create the leaders of tomorrow and contributes to the national and local economies. For some people, sport can literally save lives and for others, sport is a space where children can learn to embrace diversity. Approximately half of Canadians participate in sport (at many levels) underscoring how integral sport and movement are to our national identity.

Sport and physical activity ought to reflect the values of health, cultural diversity and resilience that define our nation. Yet, in recent years, stories that have come to light have tarnished this inspiring portrait of Canadian sport. Widely publicized revelations of maltreatment, including abuse, harassment and discrimination, as well as governance issues, have undermined trust in the Canadian sport system. This prompted calls for a thorough examination of the Canadian sporting environment and broad reforms to the sport system.

In May 2024, the then Minister of Sport and Physical Activity announced the creation of the Future of Sport in Canada Commission. Our mandate required us to carefully examine sport in Canada, engage widely and make recommendations on actions to improve (i) safe sport and (ii) the sport system in Canada.

Early on in our work, it became clear to us that the two parts of our mandate are closely interconnected. A robust, well-governed and well-supported sport and physical activity system is foundational to the creation of safe and inclusive sport environments, which in turn reduce instances of maltreatment in sport.

We have come to understand that this two-fold mandate is broad and complex, given the nature of the sport system in this country. For this Preliminary Report, we have focused our attention on examining: (i) the structure, leadership, funding and governance of the Canadian sport system; and (ii) the mechanisms intended to create and maintain safe sport environments, respond to maltreatment and support those affected. Following months of engagement and careful review of these issues, we offer for consideration preliminary recommendations which we believe would drive meaningful change and rid Canadian sport of the systemic flaws that enable maltreatment to persist largely unaddressed. We recognize that we still have much to learn from Indigenous people. We are committed to continuing to engage, listen and learn from them as we pursue our work.

We are particularly indebted to those who took the time to share with us their painful, often life-altering, sport experiences, and we recognize the courage, strength, resilience and dedication of those individuals. Their voices were essential in guiding our work.

Time for leadership and vision

From a system-wide perspective, Canadian sport suffers from a significant leadership void. There is no single entity responsible for developing and overseeing a cohesive strategic direction for sport and physical activity in Canada. The sport system has evolved reactively over decades in response to various crises, including the doping crisis and the safe sport crisis that led to the creation of the Commission, societal pressures and changing political priorities within the federal government.

The Government of Canada’s current emphasis on high-performance and medal achievements does not align with the sport community’s desire for a sport system that, while valuing success, also embodies respect, diversity and inclusion, encourages participation and promotes health and well-being.

In our view, the moment calls for decisive leadership and a clear long-term strategic vision for sport and physical activity in Canada. Drawing on models from other Commonwealth countries, we are of the view that the Government of Canada should establish an independent entity, referred to in this Preliminary Report as the Centralized Sport Entity, and entrust it with the strategic leadership, coordination, administration and oversight of sport and physical activity across the country. The entity’s responsibilities should include the development and oversight of a national sport and physical activity strategy in collaboration with interested parties such as the provinces and territories, Indigenous groups, and sport and physical activity organizations.

A clear need for structural alignment

The absence of leadership and coordinated strategic planning in sport has resulted in a proliferation of sport organizations and misalignment across the system. In most cases, National Sport Organizations have limited abilities to influence the policies, programs and procedures of their Provincial and Territorial counterparts. As such, the misalignment further extends to the community level. There is considerable overlap and duplication of services and programs among sport organizations. Parasport organizations face comparable, yet more complex, challenges with issues of alignment and operational efficiency evident at both the national and provincial and territorial levels.

A further complication is seen in the emergence and growth of private sport clubs, academies, teams, and leagues, which operate beyond the reach of National Sport Organizations. These private entities often promote a pay-to-play model, where access and development are tied more to financial means than to interest or athletic potential. Similarly, university and college sport exist in virtual isolation from the National Sport Organizations, despite the fact that they involve thousands of athletes and the greatest number of paid coaches in Canada.

To strengthen alignment among sport organizations and enhance overall efficiency in the sport system, the Government of Canada needs to: (i) improve horizontal alignment, by encouraging the amalgamation of National Sport Organizations through incentives, and by encouraging National Sport Organizations to establish and implement the sharing of common services, (ii) by encouraging National Parasport Organizations to establish and implement the sharing of common services tailored to the needs of the parasport community, (ii) improve vertical alignment, by encouraging National Sport Organizations to seek broad application of policies across all levels of their sport, by encouraging National Sport Organization to establish and implement the sharing of services with their respective Provincial and Territorial Sport Organizations and Community Sport Organizations, where possible, and encouraging with incentives the amalgamation of National Sport Organizations with Provincial and Territorial Sport Organizations, (iv) create a strategic transformation fund to support National Sport Organizations, and National Parasport Organizations, as they undertake the amalgamation and/or shared services processes, (v) develop a national parasport strategy in collaboration with the national and provincial and territorial parasport community. Once the Centralized Sport Entity is established, it will become responsible for the development of the national parasport strategy.

Addressing the funding crisis

Government funding and attention have too often been concentrated on elite, high-performance athletes, with insufficient focus on the burgeoning needs of youth and local communities. Participation in sport is now impeded by high costs and limited access to facilities and programs. Sport and physical activity are no longer accessible to all. This shift to a performance-focused sport system has also placed unhealthy pressure on athletes, coaches and sport organizations. The sport system needs a strategy that provides for ongoing, stable and equitable funding to ensure it serves equity-deserving groups, including persons with disabilities, Black, Indigenous, and people of colour, and members of the 2SLGBTQI+ communities.

The sport system is severely underfunded. National Sport Organizations today are expected to be leaders in their sport but also to create safe sport environments, promote diversity and inclusion and strengthen their governance practices, among many other responsibilities. Yet, they operate with static or even diminishing funding levels that have not kept pace with inflation nor reflected increasing expectations over the past two decades. The Government of Canada’s overreliance on project funding rather than increasing core funding for sport organizations hinders their ability to plan for the long term and retain qualified staff. The provision of multi-year core funding through Sport Canada’s Sport Support Program, which we understand is now taking place, is an important first step in the right direction.

Despite Sport Canada’s efforts to revamp and streamline its funding framework in 2024, the application process remains lengthy and complex. The oversight and monitoring of public funds in sport remain insufficient.

To ensure a well-resourced sport system that can meet the needs of all stakeholders, we believe that the Government of Canada ought to: (i) urgently increase core funding to National Sport Organizations and National Parasport Organizations, (ii) consolidate the sources of federal funding, (iii) develop a long-term funding strategy for sport, (iv) improve the funding framework, namely the application process and the monitoring of public funds, and (v) increase funding to provinces and territories so they can better support Provincial and Territorial Sport Organizations in a coordinated manner. Furthermore, once the Centralized Sport Entity is established, it should become responsible for the allocation, distribution and oversight of all federal funding for sport and physical activity, including the development of the long-term funding strategy.

Strengthening governance in sport organizations

Sport organizations at all levels, in part due to limited resources, rely heavily on well-intentioned volunteers to serve on their boards of directors. These volunteers are often former coaches, parents, or administrators from within the sport in which the organization operates. This reality presents several challenges, including a lack of financial, governance and legal skills, a lack of independence, real and perceived conflicts of interest, limited diversity in terms of gender, ethnicity and sexual orientation, and insufficient representation of athletes and para-athletes on boards of directors. Although sport organizations receive public funding, their processes and procedures frequently lack the transparency and accountability expected by governments and the Canadian public.

The Government of Canada announced in 2023 that compliance with the Canadian Sport Governance Code would be required as a condition of funding for National Sport Organizations. Yet, at the time of writing this report, compliance with the Code is not mandatory. National Sport Organizations are only required to meet minimal governance requirements as a condition of federal funding.

Because good governance practices are essential to creating safe and inclusive sport environments, the Government of Canada ought to: (i) mandate compliance with the Canadian Sport Governance Code for federally funded sport organizations, (ii) enhance the Code to add governance requirements such as including racial diversity as an element in the skills matrix for board member selection, mandating regular board training on anti-racism and inclusion and on preventing and addressing maltreatment in sport, requiring athlete representation on boards with full voting rights, and making publicly available on sport organization’s website key documents, and (iii) oversee compliance with the Code. We strongly endorse the Code’s implementation at all levels of sport. Therefore, we offer recommendations to expand the Code’s application to provincial/territorial and community-level sport organizations. Other than the enhancement of the Code which should be completed by the Government of Canada, the Centralized Sport Entity should become responsible for all responsibilities related to the governance of sport organizations that were previously assigned to the Government of Canada once the Entity is established.

Maltreatment in sport persists

Despite growing awareness and the many studies and reports that came before us, maltreatment in sport, including abuse, harassment and discrimination, remains widespread within sport. While instances of maltreatment permeate all levels of sport, they are particularly prevalent at the grassroots and community-level.

Maltreatment can take many forms: including physical punishment, bullying, body shaming, sexual exploitation, abuse of power imbalances, failure to meet basic needs, racism, sexism and homophobia. These individuals' harms are a result of broader systemic issues, such as poor governance, underfunding, conflicts of interest, a lack of oversight and a focus on winning, that together have contributed to a culture of silence that protects perpetrators and institutions and allows maltreatment to persist unchecked.

Building and sustaining safe sport environments through enhanced prevention

While recently governments and sport organizations have increasingly focused on safe sport, that emphasis remains largely on responding to maltreatment rather than preventing it. We believe that more efforts must be placed on prevention. A system that only reacts after harm has occurred cannot be considered truly safe.

There is a broad range of existing safe sport education and training initiatives taking place across the country. The multiplicity of trainings and courses has contributed to the sport community’s fatigue, frustration, and disengagement with this topic. This is due to the fragmented delivery model, which results in repeated and overlapping content, and the prevalence of ineffective online education and training formats. With a view to improving harmonization, coordination, reach, content and efficiency of safe sport education and training, the Government of Canada ought to: (i) develop, in collaboration with its provincial and territorial counterparts and Indigenous groups, a national safe sport education program with tailored content for all individuals involved in sport and (ii) mandate delivery of the Program to all individuals involved in sport organizations receiving federal funding. These responsibilities should be assigned to the Centralized Sport Entity once it is established. The Government of Canada should also incentivize its provincial and territorial counterparts to mandate the delivery of the Program to individuals involved in sport organizations receiving provincial or territorial funding by providing the resources necessary for delivering the Program within their territory. We also explore other ways to expand the reach of the Program to provincial/territorial and community-level sport organizations.

Our work has highlighted a strong consensus that background screening processes for coaches, officials, referees, staff and volunteers are essential to the creation of and maintenance of safe sport environments. Unfortunately, the adoption of background screening policies and the choice of screening tools remains inconsistent from one sport organization to another. To ensure the consistent application and effectiveness of background screenings, the Government of Canada needs to mandate background screening requirements or develop, in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments and Indigenous groups, a standardized background screening policy for adoption by sport organizations receiving federal funding, and to subsidize their implementation costs. As part of our preliminary recommendations, we also explore ways to extend those requirements to provincial/territorial and community-level sport organizations. Namely, we recommend that the Government of Canada encourage provincial and territorial governments to mandate background screening requirements or the adoption of the standardized background screening policy as a condition of funding for Provincial and Territorial Sport Organizations by offering conditional grants to provinces and territories to help offset implementation costs. These responsibilities should be assigned to the Centralized Sport Entity once it is established.

Harmonizing and expanding our response to maltreatment in sport

As noted above, our work has revealed increased efforts in recent years, by governments and sport organizations, to develop safe sport policies or codes of conduct and establish mechanisms for handling safe sport complaints.

We note the work of Sport Canada and several National Multisport Service Organizations in developing the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport, the former Abuse-Free Sport Program and the new Canadian Safe Sport Program. Several provinces and territories are also actively working on developing or implementing universal safe sport policies or legislation (Quebec, British Columbia and Saskatchewan) and centralizing the administration of safe sport complaints in their jurisdiction (Quebec, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Saskatchewan).

That said, like the former Abuse-Free Sport Program, the new Canadian Safe Sport Program and its provincial/territorial counterparts have limited reach and applicability. Except for Quebec, centralized complaint mechanisms do not reach the grassroots and community-level of sport, where most instances of maltreatment take place. The jurisdiction of these mechanisms is typically limited to sport organizations receiving funding from their enabling government, and even within those organizations, their scope is restricted to specific individuals and certain contexts. These are shortcomings which must be addressed.

In response, many national and provincial and territorial level sport organizations have adopted their own safe sport policy or code of conduct and hired external individuals or agencies to independently administer complaints that fall outside the jurisdiction of the centralized complaint mechanisms. This has further contributed to the fragmentation of the Canada “safe sport system.” It currently includes both centralized complaint mechanisms and Independent Third-Party mechanisms. The latter vary significantly in quality, particularly with respect to the selection, qualifications, and independence of adjudicators.

In this Preliminary Report, we set out several options of intergovernmental collaborative frameworks which would allow for an integrated approach to responding to safe sport issues across all levels of the Canadian sport system. Each of the options we put forward for consideration aim at building on the structures and mechanisms already developed and implemented by governments and sport organizations, including the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport. Among the various options, we recommend that the Government of Canada collaborate with provincial and territorial governments to create a national safe sport authority or tribunal to administer all federal, provincial and territorial safe sport legislation. Such legislation would be enacted by the federal, provincial and territorial legislatures. The national safe sport authority or tribunal could leverage the expertise and experience of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport.

Supporting those involved

The proliferation of complaint mechanisms nationwide has led to inconsistent approaches in how reports of maltreatment in sport are managed, investigated and resolved. In addition to these variations, complaint mechanisms often lack transparency and adequate support for those involved, including assistance to navigate the process and legal aid resources. Complaint management processes and procedures are often overly complex and lack clear timelines to ensure prompt resolution. In many cases, they have not been adequately trauma-informed and lack procedural fairness. Seeing as the Canadian Safe Sport Program only began operating on April 1, 2025, we are not in a position at the moment to make findings about its process and procedures. However, there are key critical features that any complaint mechanism and complaint management process dealing with reports of maltreatment in sport ought to include. Importantly, they must be accessible and prioritize trauma-informed practices while embedding procedural fairness. These attributes are integral to respecting the lived experiences and the rights of all parties involved.

Registries of sanctioned individuals as another preventive tool in safe sport

The rise in complaint mechanisms across the country resulted in the emergence of public registries of individuals whose eligibility to participate in sport has been restricted following a violation of a safe sport policy or code of conduct. In addition to the Canadian Safe Sport Program and the centralized complaint mechanism established in Saskatchewan, both of which provide for the implementation of a public registry, a handful of National Sport Organizations and Provincial and Territorial Sport Organizations have voluntarily implemented public registries within their organizations.

Without widely adopted public registries, individuals may move between sport organizations and provinces/territories and continue to participate in sport despite being under active restriction. In this Preliminary Report, we set out several approaches to implementing a nationwide public registry of sanctioned individuals. These recommendations are consistent with the various options of intergovernmental collaborative frameworks we propose to ensure a coordinated response to safe sport issues across all levels of sport. Among the various options, we recommend that the national safe sport authority or tribunal to be created by the Government of Canada in collaboration with provincial and territorial governments be tasked with maintaining a national registry of sanctioned individuals. We believe this could serve as an effective background screening tool to further strengthen efforts to prevent maltreatment in sport.

Conclusion

The common thread of our preliminary recommendations is the pressing need for an integrated sport system spanning from the national to the grassroots level and for a harmonized safe sport approach.

Like so many parts of Canadian life, sport and physical activity are areas of shared jurisdiction between the federal and the provincial/territorial jurisdictions. Achieving uniformity and alignment in structure, funding, leadership, governance and the approach to safe sport across the sport system will require meaningful collaboration between both levels of government.

We were encouraged to see political will from federal, provincial and territorial governments to strengthen their collaboration on these critical issues. We believe that sport has the potential to demonstrate how coordinated action between both orders of government can protect and promote societal well-being.

After all, Canada deserves a safe, efficient, sustainable, and robust physical activity and sport system that encourages participation, athletic excellence and community engagement.

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2025-08-28