Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport

Ottawa – February 1, 2022 -- A major research report issued today suggests that community sport has the power to deliver unprecedented benefits across Canadian society.

Commissioned by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) and prepared by E-Alliance, Power of Sport: The True Sport Report 2022 cites evidence to confirm that the benefits of sport reach far beyond the positive health effects. The report’s authors describe how community sport generates social capital, creating benefits across a broad spectrum of societal priorities including child and youth development, crime prevention, environmental sustainability, economic development, and social inclusion for all Canadians.

The report updates the first True Sport Report, a ground breaking research review from 2008, with additional research that addresses some of the most pressing issues in community sport today, including the impacts of sport on children with disabilities, LGBTQ+ inclusion, experiences of racialized and Indigenous peoples, and the impact of climate change on sport. It also considers the consequences of COVID-19 and the opportunities to build back community sport stronger than ever. 

“As the network leader in values-based sport, the CCES published this report to validate the power of sport to improve the lives of Canadians in so many different ways,” said Karri Dawson, Senior Director of Quality Sport with the CCES. “Our hope is that it inspires all Canadians to adopt a values-based approach to sport that is guided by the True Sport Principles, because research has confirmed that Canadians want a positive sport experience.”

The document is being widely distributed to help communities, policy makers, and business leaders recognize the tremendous potential that lies within our community sport system and to inspire new approaches to put this potential to work for all Canadians, while supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

Beyond its wide-ranging benefits, the report highlights how sport in Canada continues to grapple with persistent issues – lack of access and inclusion, maltreatment, and poor parental behaviour, to name a few – that prevent many Canadians from realizing all that sport has to offer.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed chronic social inequalities that disproportionately affect low-income and unemployed individuals, as well as women,” added Dawson. “The pandemic has awakened the sport system to the realization that building back sport means being far more attentive to the challenges, needs and expectations of equity-deserving groups.”

Through the report, the CCES invites Canadians to reflect on what they, their teams, organizations, businesses, and communities can do to help sport live up to its potential. It is hoped that the research will propel Canadians involved in sport to commit to the True Sport Principles and encourage others to use sport intentionally as a tool for social development. An intentional collective shift towards good sport will benefit people, communities, and organizations.

Download Power of Sport: The True Sport Report 2022

About the CCES

The CCES is an independent, national, not-for-profit organization committed to making sport better by working collaboratively to activate a values-based sport system; protecting the integrity of sport from the negative forces of doping and other unethical threats; and advocating for sport that is fair, safe, and open to everyone.

About True Sport

True Sport is an initiative of the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) that is designed to give people, communities and organizations the means by which to leverage the benefits of good sport from a platform of shared values and principles. As a values-based sport network leader, the CCES believes that activating the True Sport Principles, on and off the field of play, will contribute to a positive shift in Canadian sport culture. Learn more at www.truesport.ca.

About E-Alliance

Supported by funding from the Government of Canada, E-Alliance is a knowledge-sharing hub that was created to answer and expand this call: to act as a hub of expert research, innovative conversations and practical solutions to realizing the objective of gender+ equity in sport. E-Alliance is led by three co-directors, Dr. Gretchen Kerr (University of Toronto), Dr. Guylaine Demers (Université Laval) and Dr. Ann Pegoraro (University of Guelph).

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