Preface — Message from the Commissioner and Special Advisors

Canada is a sporting nation. Every day countless Canadians organize, coach, officiate or participate in sport. Sport and physical activity are integral to their lives. They are an essential component of Canadian culture, pride and identity from community playgrounds to championship podiums. Canadians actively participate and celebrate sport from the grassroots to the world stage, bringing us together as a society.

That fulfilling relationship with sport, however, has escaped many.

The Canadian sport world is in crisis. As many have told us: “it is broken.” The challenges are as profound as they are numerous: meager funding; archaic governance practices; discontinuities between and within sport organizations; duplication of efforts and resources; a problematic focus on high-performance; a lack of protection for children; and the commodification of some athletes. There is also a lack of access and opportunity for many, but more particularly for para-athletes, Black, Indigenous, and people of colour and those of the 2SLGBTQI+ communities. And when access and opportunities have been provided, they have often come at a cost to the dignity and safety of many individuals. Canadian sport has lost its way. This was most dramatically evidenced by the horrific instances of abuse and maltreatment that have come to light, many of which were swept under the rug as a result of a lack of leadership.

We heard heart-wrenching stories, across all sports and spanning the entire country, of broken dreams, humiliation and destruction. In many cases, these are stories that have been told before. And more than once. The very fact that individuals had to share these painful memories repeatedly shines a light on the fundamental failures of the system.

But we also witnessed the courage and resilience of many and the passion, dedication, and commitment of all who are working to build, promote, enhance and safeguard sport and physical activity in Canada. As a result of these actions, the positive culture change that has already begun cannot be stopped. It must not be stopped. Now is the time to transform beliefs, values, behaviours, and assumptions. Now is the time to alter the practices that shape how those within the Canadian sport system and physical activity communities interact and make decisions. Canadians are demanding, and expect, meaningful change. They believe in the importance of sport and its positive, personal and collective benefits. They want to ensure we have a system that provides safe opportunities and access to all.

We recognize the changes that Sport Canada and sport organizations have made in the last few years. But the change required has to be transformative and profound. To bring this objective to life, all governments and sport organizations have a role to play. While the Government of Canada must play a leadership role in driving change, provincial and territorial governments must actively collaborate, and sport and physical activity organizations must assume and assert their national-leadership roles. Canadians need to continue to voice their concerns. Above all, the driver of this transformative reform must be a desire to enhance and protect the well-being of society, especially children.

We were heartened to hear that Canadians, including those at the highest level of sport, and governments, are truly motivated to unite, develop and deliver significant change. In preparing our preliminary recommendations, we listened very carefully to the voices of the sport and physical activity communities in Canada. In particular, we took note of the work done by others who, in the past, reviewed and addressed similar issues, making many recommendations and suggestions for change. Many of which remain unaddressed or unimplemented. We found broad support for many of our preliminary recommendations.

Canada now has a unique opportunity to address the profound challenges we have identified. We can create an exceptional, revitalized, and safer sport and physical activity system that will more effectively and more efficiently serve generations to come. Canadians deserve no less.

Lise Maisonneuve, Commissioner

Dr. Andrew Pipe and Noni Classen, Special Advisors

August 2025