Question Period Note: The Ministerial Athlete Advisory Committee has been established to increase the representation of athletes in the sport system and to inform Government of Canada’s program and policy initiatives.

The creation of an Athlete Advisory Committee was announced in June 2022. In December 2023, the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity announced that she would chair the Committee and directly engage with members. 

Our Government believes that athletes’ voices must be prioritized. 

Through the Ministerial Athlete Advisory Committee, I will directly engage athletes to incorporate their perspectives in Sport Canada’s programs and policies. We will also encourage athletes to bring forward issues important to them. 

We will continue to advocate for increased participation of athletes and the inclusion of their diverse voices in the governance of the Canadian sport system. 

The perspectives of high performance athletes are represented in the sport system through the mandate of AthletesCAN and on various committees and boards of National Sport and Multisport Service organizations. However, athletes continue to advocate for a more consistent position and voice in discussions and decisions across the Canadian sport system, including on issues related to athletes’ safety and wellbeing. 

In June 2022, the Minister of Sport announced the creation of an Athlete Advisory Committee.

The Minister of Sport and Physical Activity will engage the Committee to identify opportunities to incorporate high performance athletes’ perspectives to strengthen Government of Canada programs and policies in sport and physical activity. Members will also have the opportunity to raise topics important to them.  

The Committee is comprised of representatives from AthletesCAN, the Canadian Olympic Committee Athletes’ Commission, and the Canadian Paralympic Committee Athletes’ Council; and senior national team athletes.

Members-at-large were recruited through a first public application process, which was open to the community of Canadian senior national team athletes between
February 1, 2023, and March 12, 2023. With the announcement of the Committee being elevated to a Ministerial Advisory Committee, the public application process was reopened on January 11, 2024, to February 6, 2024.

The Committee membership was announced in July 2024 and will begin its work in the fall of 2024.  

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