Sports minister to announce reforms aimed at strengthening voice of national athletes

The federal government will unveil reforms to Canada's sports system on Thursday aimed at enhancing the voice of athletes, but fall short of the overhaul of Canada's sport system many have been calling for, CBC has learned.

Changes will include new rules making athlete representation on National Sports Organization (NSO) boards mandatory, according to a source who is not authorized to speak publicly of the details, as well as the creation of a permanent athlete advisory committee.

What is not included is a public inquiry into the entire sports system, something many athletes have said is needed in the wake of months of stories of physical and emotional abuse within the NSO system. Pascal St-Onge, the federal Minister of Sport, has said she is undecided on the need for an inquiry. 

Sport Canada will dedicate $300,000 in funding for AthletesCAN, an advocacy group for national team athletes, to help build its capacity to coordinate with sport partners and to offer proper training for athletes who wish to be part of their NSO's board.

In March, the federal government committed $13.8 million over the next three years to addressing safe sport issues. That's in addition to $16 million it announced last year for the creation and operation of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC), an independent office to investigate athlete complaints. All federally funded sport organizations were required to sign on in order to keep their funding.

An ongoing investigation by CBC News and Sports has chronicled abuse in amateur sports in Canada over the past 25 years. It revealed close to 300 coaches — mostly at the local level — have been convicted of sexual offences against a minor under their care since 1998, across multiple sports, provinces and jurisdictions.

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CBC News and Sports have been investigating abuse in amateur sport in Canada. Read all of the reporting here.