New report calls for changes to ‘broken’ amateur sports system

A federal commission appointed to scrutinize Canada’s amateur sports system is recommending the creation of a new independent body to provide oversight over sport across the country, a move the commission says would help to both address funding shortages and consolidate programs to prevent and address cases of abuse and maltreatment. 

The recommendation was part of a preliminary report released Thursday by the Future of Sport in Canada commission. The commission was announced in May 2024 by then-federal sport minister Carla Qualtrough after a number of athletes spoke publicly about systemic abuse within the sports system.

The commission is led by commissioner Lise Maisonneuve, the former chief justice of the Ontario Court of Justice.

“The Canadian sport system is in crisis,” Maisonneuve said at a press conference Thursday. “As many have told us, it is broken.”

The commission has made 71 recommendations, including that the federal government should devise a new model for funding national sporting organizations, create a national safe sport education program, and establish a national safe sport body to administer all safe sport legislation across the country.

The commission, which released its preliminary report after holding consultation hearings in a dozen Canadian cities and receiving more than 1,000 written submissions, has also recommended a national sanctions registry to identify people who have been suspended or banned from sport for misconduct.

The report recommended that funding for national sport organizations be made conditional on national sport organizations (NSOs) adopting enhanced codes of conduct.

The commission’s 384-page report raised questions about the effectiveness of background screening policies and practices employed by sport organizations.

In some instances, people with lifetime coaching bans were still coaching at clubs and associations that claimed to have screening policies in place, the report said, adding that, in some cases, people who were hired after completing screening processes were later found to have had prior charges or convictions for sexual offences.

The commission pointed to Ontario, where provincial sport organizations must have a “screening” policy to receive government funding, but the type of required screening is not specified.

The report also said there have also been cases where sport organizations and people contacted for reference checks were aware of past charges, convictions and suspensions, but did not reveal that information to the people conducting background checks.

While there is evidence that while people are starting to come forward with complaints of maltreatment, which can be viewed as a sign of progress, there has been a long-lasting culture of silence in Canadian amateur sports regarding cases of alleged abuse, the commission said.

“When people do report maltreatment, they are frequently labelled as troublemakers, which perpetuates the cycle of abuse…,” the report said. “Many individuals shared with the commission that they were hesitant to speak out, whether as witnesses, victims or survivors. They feared retribution from coaches, teammates, supervisors or institutions. In many instances, these fears came true when victims, survivors and witnesses did raise concerns or report maltreatment.”

While the report said the commission had heard from a number of victims of abuse who said bystanders looked the other way, it also highlighted how the concept of safe sport has become “weaponized.”

“Many shared that it is even being used as a verb — we are going to ‘safe sport’ you — in a threatening or punitive way,” the report said. “In many respects, ‘safe sport’ has become a contentious and emotionally charged expression.”

The commission’s report was published more than a year after the Standing Committee on Canadian Heritage completed a similar report.

In June 2024, the federal heritage committee made 21 recommendations regarding amateur sport in Canada, including that a national public sanctions registry for misconduct be created, that NSOs be required to publish board meeting records, and that NSOs be required to offer more financial transparency.

However, several NSO officials have privately said in interviews that the federal government has not ensured that any of the heritage committee recommendations be adopted and tied to funding.

Maisonneuve said she was confident the commission’s recommendations would be pursued by the federal government.

“We felt and we have seen there is a great appetite to finally have the discussion that needs to be had, to put in place the changes that we have recommended,” she said.

The commission plans to hold a national summit in Ottawa to discuss its preliminary report from Sept. 8-12. A final report is expected to be published in late 2025 or early 2026.