QUESTION PERIOD — Ministry of Canadian Heritage
Future of Sport in Canada Commission
September 25, 2025
Minister Guilbeault, thank you for being here today.
As the minister who is ultimately responsible for sport, I want to ask you about the Future of Sport in Canada Commission’s recently released report. The report states clearly that “Sport and physical activity are vital threads in the fabric of Canadian life.” Yet it also found that the system is severely underfunded. National sport organizations are expected not only to develop athletes and grow participation but also to provide safe environments, advance diversity and inclusion and strengthen governance, all while operating with static or shrinking resources that have not kept pace with inflation for two decades.
The report calls for bold leadership and vision. Will the government commit to urgently increasing core funding for national sport organizations and national parasport organizations and also commit to developing a reliable long-term funding strategy for sport in Canada?
Thank you for the question.
I had the opportunity to meet with the commissioner and members of her team when she presented not all but many of the findings. As you know, it is very recent. We created this commission because we wanted to have suggestions and proposals on how we can improve safe sport in Canada.
My colleague Adam van Koeverden, the Secretary of State (Sport), is an Olympic athlete who knows a lot about the sector. Both he and I and the department are working with the Department of Finance to see how we can improve support for the sport sector in Canada and, more specifically, in light of safer sport for all.
Yes, and we’re also looking for the long‑term funding strategy.
Beyond funding, the commission warned that sport in Canada risks losing its credibility and relevance if systemic issues of maltreatment and weak accountability are not addressed. It found inconsistent and opaque processes for managing complaints, with inadequate supports for athletes and participants who experience abuse, including those who participate outside of the federal high-performance system.
Will the government commit to establishing a truly independent, transparent and well-resourced mechanism to ensure safe, fair and accountable sport for everyone in Canada?
As you know, the report came out two or three weeks ago, so we are still combing through it. We will obviously move toward implementing as many of the recommendations as we can.
My predecessor created the commission so that we would be able to create a safer environment for people who practise high‑level sports in Canada. We will be working on that in the coming weeks and months.
