Building a better, safer and more accountable sport system in Canada

The Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Canada’s Minister responsible for Sport, shares her vision for a safe and accountable sport system in which Canadian athletes from all walks of life can thrive

Sport has the power to build people and communities up. It improves our physical, mental and emotional health and teaches us invaluable skills like resilience, teamwork and determination.

But despite its many virtues, sport is not exempt from the ills that afflict other sectors of our society. Cultures of silence, toxic power relations, physical and psychological abuse are, unfortunately, also part of the experience for many athletes.

Collectively, we need to tackle these challenges and have the courage to name the issues and put forward the solutions that will help us offer healthy, safe, inclusive and enriching experiences to all our athletes.

While there is no one-stop solution, we must lay the foundations to tackle these problems head-on. This means challenging how things are done and establishing clear standards that we must all abide with to achieve culture change in sport.

Where do we start? Good governance and better accountability from sport organizations, enhancing the athlete voice and promoting better education are key milestones. That work has started.

Greater compliance and accountability

Good governance and corporate transparency are fundamentals for a safer sport system. That’s why we are creating a completely new unit at Sport Canada to focus on the compliance and accountability of National Sport Organizations (NSOs).

The unit will work with sport organizations and external experts on the development of concrete action plans with clear indicators on governance, safe sport, and athlete representation. Failing to achieve improvements will have escalating repercussions, including financial consequences for sport organizations.

Good governance, the basis of systemic change

Governance issues in sport have made headlines this past year. We have all witnessed the devastating fallout for our athletes when sport organizations have weak or flawed governance structures. Boards of directors are responsible for the proper functioning and integrity of their organizations, and they must be held to account.

That’s why, going forward, all NSOs will have to comply with new governance standards to be eligible for federal funding. This will mean target requirements for diversity on boards of directors, athlete representation on boards, strict rules around board independence and term limits, and other concrete requirements to improve transparency.

Many of these and other standards are included in the Canadian Sport Governance Code. While some organizations have already adopted some or all of this code, we need greater consistency and compliance at the national level. That’s why all NSOs that receive federal funding will be required to fully implement the Code by April 2025.

Better amplification of athletes’ voices

We must ensure that our athletes have safe spaces in which to express themselves and we must listen carefully to what they have to say. Amplifying athletes’ voices is vital to building a better sport system.

To this end, we are making athlete representation on NSO boards mandatory. Athletes have been asking this for years and we are making it happen. But our athletes need to be well prepared to fully contribute to board decision-making, which is why we will invest in governance training by providing funding to AthletesCAN to enhance athletes’ voices within the sport system.

We also have created the Sport Canada Athlete Advisory Committee to give athletes a say in the development of our sport policies.

We must also be sure that athletes and other sport participants are never prevented from disclosing any mistreatment they have experienced or witnessed. That’s why, from now on, Sport Canada will prohibit any non-disclosure agreements, NSO contracts, policies, procedures, or actions that could restrict an athlete or a participant’s rights, as defined by the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS). To enforce fair contractual agreements, NSOs will be mandated to align with the language of the athlete agreement template developed by AthletesCAN.

Better coach certification

Athletes and their parents must be able to count on the fact that NSO coaches are consistently and thoroughly screened. We need to set higher standards for coach certification and selection.

To achieve this, we will work with the Coaching Association of Canada to ensure that all coaches hired by our NSOs undergo a rigorous background check and have the appropriate certifications and training, including training to prevent abuse and mistreatment.

Better reporting mechanisms

All athletes and participants in the sport system also need to know their rights and responsibilities so they can identify problematic situations and act. That’s why we are investing in the promotion of tools such as the UCCMS.

This is also the raison d’être of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC), which ensures that national athletes have trusted and independent complaint mechanisms. As of April 1, 2023, all NSOs must be a Program Signatory to the Abuse-Free Sport program, including the services of the OSIC, to receive funding from the Government of Canada. National Multisport Service Organizations and Canadian Olympic and Paralympic Sport Institute Network had until July 1, 2023, to become a Program Signatory.

Public registry of sanctions

The SDRCC is also creating a public registry of individuals who have been sanctioned under the UCCMS. The registry, which will be available within the next year, will apply to all NSOs and all our organizations under OSIC’s jurisdiction.

Better access for all

Recognizing the benefits of safe sport, we are also working hard to remove the barriers that Indigenous, Black and racialized communities, 2SLGBTQI+groups, low-income people, newcomers and people living with disabilities face in the world of sport. That’s why the Government of Canada supports organized community sport projects that are affordable, accessible, green, and focused on increasing participation in underserved communities.

Sport is integral to building stronger, healthier communities. It should be accessible to and safe for everyone, everywhere in Canada – no matter what.

We are making progress, but we must set our sights high. Our athletes deserve that. These measures are only the foundation on which we can – and will – build a stronger, better sport system for all. So now, we keep working.