Question Period Note: New measures to foster sustainable culture change in sport

New measures to improve accountability and foster sustainable culture change in sport were announced in December 2023.

The Government of Canada is committed to building a sport system that is safe and inclusive. 

That is why additional and concrete actions have been taken to:

improve the governance and increase the accountability of sport organizations;

enhance safe sport practices, including providing funding to support the Abuse-Free Sport Registry; and; 

prioritize the voices of athletes in the sport system. 

These measures will continue to build the foundation of a culture change in sport. It will help us move towards a more accountable and safer sport system where the well-being of sport participants is top of mind. 

Sport Reform towards a Safe and Accountable Sport System 

In March 2024, the Abuse-Free Sport Program launched a public registry of individuals who have been sanctioned under the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport and whose eligibility to participate in sport has in some way been restricted. Sport Canada created a new compliance division which will monitor NSOs performance on governance and safe sport.

In July 2024, the Minister announced the composition of a Ministerial Athlete Advisory Committee and will be offering paid internships to national team athletes. Sport Canada has provided up to $1 million in funding to develop robust, consistent and system-wide tools and resources regarding abuse, discrimination and maltreatment.  

Funding of $250,000 was provided to the Coaching Association of Canada in 2023-24 to ensure appropriate certification and screening of development and national team coaches, and for the development and promotion of a training module for international coaches. 

NSOs will be expected to appoint an athlete representative to their Board of Directors, and Sport Canada has dedicated $300,000 in funding to AthletesCAN in 2023-24 to support governance training, both in-person and virtually, reaching over 250 athletes, expansion of onboarding and virtual training for athlete Directors/athlete representatives, and the development of new governance elearning resources on the AthletesCAN AthletesHUB.

The Government has reviewed the current merit-based process and implemented greater transparency for nominating and appointing members to the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada’s Board of Directors.

Sport Canada prohibits sport organizations from restricting participants’ rights under the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS), including submitting complaints to the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner. 

None