Question Period Note: Following reported instances of maltreatment in the Canadian sport system, the Government of Canada is called upon to take additional measures to ensure a safe sport environment

In response to a challenging time within the Canadian sport system, the Government of Canada is increasing its support to provide athletes, coaches and other sport system stakeholders with additional resources to deal with urgent mental health care, education and training. This is in addition to multiple steps taken to ensure Canadians can participate in sport in a safe, welcoming and inclusive environment.

• The Government of Canada remains committed to ensuring that all Canadians experience a sport environment that is free of maltreatment.
• Our government is taking action to provide mental health support, education and training by investing $ 2.4 million into the mental health strategy for Canadian high performance athletes and coaches.
• With this additional investment, our experts working directly with athletes and coaches will be better equipped to work on the urgent and growing need to provide stronger support for the mental health and wellbeing of athletes across Canada.

• Budget 2019 provided $30 million over five years, starting in 2019–20, with $6 million per year ongoing, to enable Canadian sports organizations to promote accessible, ethical, equitable and safe sports.
• On June 19, 2018, the following measures were announced to enhance the existing policy framework in these areas: Federally funded sport organizations must: 1-Take all necessary measures to create a workplace free from harassment, abuse or discrimination of any kind; 2-Immediately disclose any incident that could compromise the project or programming to the Minister responsible for sport; 3-Make provisions for access to an independent third party to address harassment and abuse cases; 4-Provide mandatory training on harassment and abuse to their members by April 1, 2020.
• In February 2019, during the meeting of federal, provincial, and territorial Ministers responsible for sport, physical activity, and recreation, Ministers endorsed the Red Deer Declaration for the Prevention of Harassment, Abuse and Discrimination in Sport. As part of this declaration, Ministers will develop a collaborative approach to increase awareness, prevention, identifying and reporting, and monitoring to address harassment, abuse, and discrimination in sport. Ministers also agreed to make "safety and integrity in sport" a standing agenda item for future meetings.
• Sport Canada supported the Coaching Association of Canada to host a series of nationwide consultations on the development of a Universal Code of Conduct to address harassment and abuse in Canadian sport. The resulting Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS), which includes general principles, definitions of misconduct and prohibited behaviours and an approach to sanctions, was endorsed by the majority of national-level sport organizations and released publicly in December 2019.
• The UCCMS covers the areas of 1-Psychological Maltreatment (e.g. verbal acts, non-assaultive physical acts and acts that deny attention or support; 2-Physical Maltreatment (e.g., contact or non-contact behaviours that have the potential to cause physical harm, such as malnutrition); 3-Sexual Maltreatment (e.g., Criminal Code Offences of sexual assault, sexual exploitation, sexual interference, etc.); and 4-Neglect (e.g., not providing an Athlete recovery time and/or treatment for a sport injury, not being aware of and not considering an individual’s physical or intellectual disability, etc.).
• Through a contribution from Sport Canada, the Sport Information Resource Centre contracted an independent analysis of the national and international safe sport landscape and develop recommendations on the most effective means to establish and deliver an independent mechanism for administering the implementation of the UCCMS. The McLaren Report became a key referral piece to guide the next actions required for the implementation of the UCCMS.
• Based on the findings of this report, as well as additional input from the sport community, Sport Canada established the essential structure, roles, processes, and services that must be in place to effectively administer the UCCMS and launched a call for applications to identify a Canadian organization that can deliver those essential elements and services for federally funded organizations.
• In July 2021, the Minister of Canadian Heritage announced that the SDRCC had been selected, based on the recommendations of a committee of representatives of Canadian sport and experts in prevention of abuse, to establish and deliver the independent mechanism, to be called the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC).
• The Minister of Sport has indicated her intent to make it mandatory for all federally funded organizations to use the SDRCC’s Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner to act as their independent third party to receive and manage allegations of maltreatment.
• On April 5, 2022, the SDRCC announced that Sarah-Ève Pelletier, former national team artistic swimmer, member of the Quebec Bar, and accredited civil mediator, was Canada’s first Sport Integrity Commissioner.
• On June 20, 2022, the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) launched its first phase of operations. As part this phase, the OSIC will receive reports about violations of the UCCMS, initiate scoping for Sport Environment Assessments, and offer education, prevention tools and resources, including mental health and legal aid referrals.
• Mental health and wellness have been a focus of the national players in the sport system since the development of the 2021 Mental Health Strategy for High Performance Sport in Canada report. Even with the collective focus on mental health and wellness over the past few years, not all the recommendations in the Mental Health Strategy have been implemented because of lack of capacity and financial resources.
• On December 12, 2022, the Minister of Sport announced an investment of $2.4 million towards the Canadian mental health strategy for high performance sport. The Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee, Own the Podium and the Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sport Institute Network have partnered to provide a short-term proposal to address the urgent mental health needs of Canadian athletes and coaches.

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