'Fragmented, inconsistent, unsafe': Commission calls for sweeping change to sport in Canada

A commission studying the future of sport in Canada has called for sweeping change to the way sport is structured, after its work found “the widespread presence of maltreatment and abuse” in a poorly resourced and organized system.

The commission, led by former Chief Justice Lise Maisonneuve, has issued nearly 100 calls to action that range from immediately increasing funding to the sport system, to a long-term goal of creating a “centralized sport entity” to oversee sport in Canada.

“As we examined the Canadian sport system, it became very clear that the challenges in Canadian sport are profound — from underfunding and governance deficits, duplication of efforts among organizations, fragmentation and a lack of integration of policies and programs, to an unhealthy focus on high-performance outcomes over participant safety and dignity,” Maisonneuve wrote in her report.

“Indeed, at times, we wondered whether this can even be described as a ‘sport system’ given the pervasive problems that exist.”

A new agency responsible for sport and physical activity in Canada was first recommended in the preliminary report the commission issued last year. That report described a “broken” system that places too much emphasis on results, where abuse and maltreatment is rampant at all levels.

The commission heard how “a small contingent of decision-makers and senior leadership within the Canadian sport system had gained massive influence over the direction of priorities and funds and directly or indirectly benefitted from the status quo.”  Some were concerned that if the same people are involved in the new sport entity, change won’t happen, the report says.

That’s why the commission calls for the creation of a new Crown corporation that can access government support but has distance from “political pressures,” similar to agencies that exist in Australia and New Zealand.

The new Crown corporation would oversee the strategy around physical activity, all federal funding for sport and physical activity, and compliance with requirements around safe sport and governance.

“Our approach to sport must encompass both the pursuit of excellence in high-performance sport and broad sport participation,” the report says. “Decisions made with respect to sport and physical activity must be evidence-based and timely, not shaped by undue political influence and pressure. More importantly, a single point of leadership for sport and physical activity in Canada will provide clearer and greater accountability.”

The commission’s work began in 2024 after calls to launch a public inquiry into abuse in sport. 

That began with athletes from a number of different sports, who testified in front of a House of Commons committee about mental and physical abuse and maltreatment they experienced during their sporting careers, laying bare the impact of a system that let them down.

A public inquiry would have had the power to compel people and agencies to turn over records and testify in public. Instead, the federal government opted for a commission, arguing that a public inquiry could expose athletes to “combative” cross-examination, where they’d have to prove they were traumatized.

More to come.