Sport Participation by age

According to Leger Opinion’s 2024 Physical Activity and Sport Survey, in collaboration with the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute, 27% of adults have participated in sport in the year preceding the survey. Sport reflects physical activities that involve competition, rules, and developing specific skills. For the purpose of this particular analysis, age was characterized as a dichotomous various: younger adults (18 to 64 years) and older adults (≥ 65 years). Sport participation was considerably higher among adults younger than 65 years (32%) compared to older adults (13%).

In addition to participation rates, “participation” reflects an understanding of the regularity of participation (months per year) and the frequency of participation (times per week) in order to distinguish regular participators and those who do not participate very often. Nationally, almost two out of ten adults (19%) who participated in sport did so every month of the year, whereas an additional 42% participated between six and eleven months of the year. Roughly four in ten (39%) participated in sport for less than six months out of the year. A greater percentage of younger adults indicated they participated less than six months per year, whereas a greater percentage of older adults indicated that they participated six to eleven months out of the year. There were no age-related differences, however, among adults reporting participation each month of the year.

Sport participants were also asked how frequently they participated in sport on a weekly basis during the months that they participated. Almost two out of ten adults (18% nationally – 19% of younger adults and 17% of older adults) reported that they participated very frequently at four or more times a week, and 34% reported two to three times a week (32% of younger adults and a significantly higher percentage of older adults at 44%). Just over one-quarter of adults (28% nationally – 28% of younger adults and 24% of older adults) reported that they participated once a week. Two out of ten (20%) adults indicated that they participated less often or variably depending on the month or the season (21% of younger adults and 15% of older adults).

More men than women participate in sport and this difference exists irrespective of age group.

Overall, considerably more men than women (17% difference between the genders) participated in sport in the previous twelve months. This gender difference is also apparent for both age groups (19% difference between the genders among younger adults compared to a 9% difference among older adults). When exploring this relationship by age group, more younger men (41%) reported participating in sport in the past year compared to older men (18%), and a similar relationship appeared for women (22% of younger women compared to 9% of older women).

In terms of the number of months participating in sport nationally, a greater percentage of men overall (21%) reported participation during each month of the year compared to women (16%), whereas relatively more women (43%) said that they participated for less than six months out of the year compared to 37% of men. These gender differences appeared among younger adults but were not significant for older adults.  Interestingly, there are no gender differences related to regularity of weekly (or other) participation during the months participated in – either at a national level or within younger and older adults.

Almost half of adults participated in a structured sport environment.

Almost half of adults (47% overall – 46% of younger adults compared to 61% of older adults) indicated that when they participated in sport, they did so primarily in a structured environment, whereas 30% (32% of younger adults and 17% of older adults) reported a primarily unstructured environment, and 22% (22% of younger adults and 22% of older adults) reported both types of environments.

A similar percentage of men and women reported participating in primarily a structured environment, or equally in structured and unstructured environments; these gender relationships hold regardless of the two age groups.  A slightly higher percentage of men (33%) stated that they primarily participate in an unstructured sport environment compared to women (26%). This relationship is significant among younger adults but not older adults and this may partially be due to sample size.

Half of sport participants indicated that they competed in their sport.  Generally, there were no significant differences in the percentage reporting that they competed between younger (51%) and older adults (49%). Relatively more men (57%) than women (39%) competed in sport.  These gender differences also exist among both younger (57% of younger men compared to 39% of younger women) and older adults (56% of older adults compared to 38% of older women).

Roughly half or less who participated in sport made use of supports, like using a coach or training.

The survey also asked about the use of a coach for sport and whether or not the individual trains. Almost one-third of adults (32% overall) reported the use of a coach for sport. Slightly more than double the rate of younger sport participants reported the use of a coach compared to older participants (34% of younger adults and 16% of older adults). There were no overall differences in the use of a coach by gender of the participant, overall and within age groups.

Half of adult sport participants said that they trained for their sport. Younger sport participants (53%) were more likely than older participants (36%) to report that they trained for sport. In general, a higher percentage of men (54%) stated that they trained for their sport compared to 44% of women. This relationship, however, was only significant among younger adults, as there were no significant gender-related differences among older adults.