Sport Programming

In 2020-2021 the Canadian Fitness and Lifestyle Research Institute (CFLRI) conducted a survey of Canadian Sport Organizations. Recognizing the critical role that sport organizations play in facilitating physical activity and sport participation among Canadians, this survey aimed to collect valuable information regarding the availability of facilities, policies, programs and other opportunities to participate in sport and physical activity. This summary will focus on sport programming available through national, provincial/territorial and local sport organizations. More specifically, this survey asked administrators to report on the process involved in providing quality programs, particularly as it relates to program development and delivery. Increasing sport participation and physical activity levels among all Canadians, will require increasing opportunities in support of physical activity and sport participation specifically among key population groups that are known to demonstrate lower levels of participation. The findings of this study, will also highlight what steps, if any, were taken by sport organizations in Canada to promote equity, diversity, inclusion and access in their sport programming.

Sport programming development

The effective development and delivery of quality programming that is suitable for all Canadians, requires thoughtful planning, which could include training/mentorship as well as collaborations with key partners and/or parties of interest. Administrators were asked to describe what actions their organizations take in the development and delivery phase of sport programming. The results of the 2020-2021 Sport Organization survey showed that most sport organizations (85%) agreed to some extent or more that their organizations ensured quality standards for coaching and officials, whereas roughly three quarters (74%) agreed that their organizations developed leadership materials and resources specifically for coaches or officials. About half of organizations agreed that they entered into partnerships with other sport organizations (53%), municipalities (52%) and schools (51%) to undertake sport initiatives. Fewer organizations (38%) agreed that they were involved in training and mentoring activities in schools (See Figure 1).

Region – Sport organizations across the nation generally did not vary in their various sport programming initiatives. There were, however, a couple notable distinctions, organizations in Quebec were less likely than Canadian organizations overall to agree to a great extent that their organizations’ ensure quality standards among coaches and officials, whereas organizations in Ontario were more likely than the average to agree to this to a great extent. Conversely, organizations in Quebec were more likely than the average to agree to a great extent that they entered into partnerships with municipalities to undertake sport initiatives at the community level (See Figures 2a & 2b).

Organization size – There were no significant differences in sport programming initiatives by size of organization.

Delivery of targeted programming

Research has shown that physical activity and sport participation varies by a number of socio-economic demographics (e.g., gender, age, and household income). The provision of tailored programming may help to facilitate participation among sub-groups of the population for whom participation rates have remained consistently lower than the average. To this end, sport organizations were asked to indicate whether they provided targeted programming and to identify which populations these programs served.  According to administrators, just under half (44%) of sport organizations provided sport programming that is designed to target specific populations. When asked to identify which populations these programs served, 37% indicated that they offered programs specifically for youth while 27% said they offered targeted programming specifically for women and girls. Less than ten percent of organizations reported the availability of programs specifically for cultural groups (7%), people who identify as 2SLGBTQI+ (9%) or new Canadians (9%) (See Figure 3).

Region – There were no regional differences in the provision of targeted programming among sport organizations.

Organization size – This study also examined whether sport programming opportunities differed by organization size. For the purpose of this study, sport organizations were categorized as ‘small’ if they reported having 150 participants or less, whereas those with over 150 participants were categorized as ‘large’. Based on this classification, large organizations were almost two times more likely than smaller ones to report having sport programming specifically for Indigenous populations. There were no other significant differences by organization size (See Figure 5).