Content warning: Please note that this report discusses topics that can be disturbing to some readers, including abuse, discrimination, and gender-based violence.

Sport and physical activity should be safe activities for all Canadians, however, maltreatment in sport is an ongoing problem reported by survivors for decades. Recently, athletes in various sports have spoken out about inequalities, negative experiences, and maltreatment.

To respond to calls for culture change in sport in Canada, the House of Commons Standing Committee on the Status of Women undertook a study on the experiences of women and girls in sport. Maltreatment takes different forms and can include psychological, sexual, physical, and emotional abuse and discrimination. Certain groups of athletes are more likely to experience maltreatment or need protection. This is the case for women and girls, who are more likely to report experiencing maltreatment than men and boys. During this study, many witnesses described experiences of physical, sexual, financial, and psychological violence.

Maltreatment cases can be reported to the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC). OSIC is an organization operating an independent mechanism to handle complaints of abuse in sport. However, this procedure is only available to a small proportion of athletes in Canada. OSIC’s authority is limited. In most cases, athletes at the provincial, municipal or club levels do not have access to this mechanism. In addition, witnesses expressed concern that OSIC’s complaint mechanism is not independent from the sports system. Athletes might not report maltreatment, fearing retribution.

To help eradicate maltreatment in sports, a rethink of the sports governance system in Canada is needed. Witnesses identified several systemic changes that could be made to the Canadian sports system. These changes include:

• an oversight of sports organizations’ funding use and ways they process maltreatment allegations;
• the creation of a publicly accessible national coaches registry aiming to prevent coaches subject to sanctions for maltreatment from being able to coach in another sport or to coach in a different province or territory;
• the improvement and expansion of safe sport education and training for athletes, coaches, parents, and any other individuals involved in the sports system; and
• efforts to increase women’s and girls’ participation as well as gender equality and inclusion in sport.

Most witnesses called for the Government of Canada to establish an independent national public inquiry into maltreatment in sports. This inquiry could shed light on how the sports system has allowed maltreatment to occur and go unpunished.

In this report, the Committee makes 24 recommendations to help eliminate maltreatment in sports in Canada. Those recommendations outline ways the Government of Canada can address this pressing issue.