Ottawa – A report on the broad public benefits of community sport, released today by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) on behalf of Canada’s True Sport Movement, has galvanized a challenge to every mayor in Canada to join the True Sport Movement and to take action to help sport live up to its potential as a powerful force for good in their community.

“There is one very simple idea at the heart of our report – it is that good sport can make a great difference in the lives of Canadians,” said Paul Melia, President and CEO of the CCES.

What Sport Can Do: The True Sport Report, provides compelling evidence of a wide array of benefits that community sport can deliver.  According to the report, community sport can help Canada achieve:

  • A healthier, more active population
  • Improved school enrolment, attendance and achievement
  • More employable youth with transferable life skills
  • Less adolescent crime and gang involvement
  • Reduced rates of adolescent pregnancy and health risk behaviour
  • More inclusive communities
  • Higher levels of social capital and social trust
  • Faster community integration of newcomers
  • Improved inclusion, health and wellbeing of people with disabilities
  • Strengthened Aboriginal communities and youth 
  • Improved workplace skills and productivity
  • Enhanced sport tourism and neighbourhood renewal efforts
  • Attraction of mobile knowledge workers and companies that hire them to our cities
  • Improved environmental awareness and social mobilization
  • More sustainable sport infrastructure and events

“The cross-cutting benefits of community sport, outlined in this report, are a clear invitation to all community leaders, across all sectors, to go beyond traditional approaches,” stated Regina Mayor Pat Fiacco. “We need to come together and adopt a more horizontal and inclusive approach if we are to harness the true potential of sport and make it work to achieve our community goals. 

This report shows us, in a very compelling way, that good sport is good for people and good for places.  Community sport is, in fact, one of our most valuable public assets – a critical, yet largely untapped, reservoir of public benefit that with intentional effort can be made to deliver even more for Canadians,” emphasized Mayor Fiacco.

The report documents the extent to which community sport is woven into the very fabric of Canada’s communities. One out of four adults and one out of two children actively participate in sport, while over 5.3 million Canadians volunteer as amateur sport coaches, officials, and organizers. 

With such vast numbers of Canadians volunteering and participating in sport, it is not surprising that nine out of ten Canadians believe that community sport can be an enormous force for good. However, only one in five feels that sport is living up to its potential. Canadians are worried that community sport is being pulled in the wrong direction, influenced by negative values linked to some commercial sport. 

“This report clearly demonstrates that, in order to get the most out of sport, the sport we do must be good sport – built on the values of excellence, fair play, fun and inclusion. This is what we mean by True Sport,” said Mr. Melia.

Mayor Fiacco, joined by Olympic gold medalist, Beckie Scott, and CCES Chair, former Olympian, Dr. Louise Walker, issued a challenge to all Canadian communities. A letter, signed by all three True Sport Champions, was sent to mayors and councils across the country with a copy of the report.

“We are asking the leaders of our communities to harness the power of sport within their communities and join the True Sport Movement,” stated Mayor Fiacco. “By declaring ourselves True Sport communities, we have the power to provide the sport Canadians want.”

“There are no magic bullets when it comes to meeting complex social and economic challenges, but there is a clear and growing body of evidence that good community sport is an incredibly powerful way to strengthen individuals and communities, concluded Elizabeth Mulholland, author of the report. “The challenge now is to be intentional in working together to ensure we put sport to work and have a community sport system that can deliver.”

True Sport is a national movement for sport and community. Its goal is to help sport live up to its full potential as a public asset for Canada and Canadian society, making a significant contribution to the development of youth, the wellbeing of individuals, and quality of life in our communities.

The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport is a non-profit organization established to foster ethical sport for all Canadians. The CCES achieves this mission through research, promotion and education relevant to ethics in sport, including fair play and drug-free sport.

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Also available at www.truesport.ca/truesportreport: 

  • What Sport Can Do: The True Sport Report (full document or executive summary
  • Backgrounders
    • Community  Sport; Physical and Mental Health; Children and Youth; Social Development; Economic Development
  • Key Facts:  Community Sport in Canada
  • True Sport Movement Fact Sheet
  • Quotes: Key Stakeholders 
  • Contacts: Key stakeholders media interviews 
  • Media conference materials
    • Transcript of spokespersons’ statements
    • Copy of True Sport Challenge Letter from Mayor Pat Fiacco of Regina
  • Participants’ Bios

For further information, please contact:

Rosemary Pitfield
Director of Communications True Sport
(613) 355-0889
(613) 521-3340 x3236
rpitfield@truesport.ca