Canada's sport minister announces new measures to protect athletes from maltreatment, abuse

In an attempt to combat what Canada's sport minister has called a safe sport crisis in the country, federal Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge announced Sunday morning a number of new measures to hold sport organizations across the country accountable, with the ultimate goal of protecting athletes from maltreatment and abuse. 

During the announcement in Montreal, St-Onge outlined a number of efforts to set up a framework that will make sport safer for all participants in Canada. 

Effective April 2023, Sport Canada will be changing the contribution agreements with sport organizations that meet new Sport Canada funding framework eligibility requirements. 

There will be enhanced checks and balances and heightened accountability in place that will directly impact sport organizations and their funding — sport organizations receiving federal funding will have to meet specific governance, accountability and safe sport standards. 

The new requirements and standards will be developed by Sport Canada over the next few months. 

"We can't change everything in a few weeks, but I wanted to follow up publicly on our discussions and some of the work that is underway," St-Onge said. 

"It's important to keep this dialogue going and to be able to tell athletes, families, organizations and their staff that the community is actively working to find solutions. From the discussions I've had, it's clear that there is a shared desire to improve."

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A new committee will be established to advise the minister on matters relating to safe sport in Canada. St-Onge says athletes will have a strong voice at the table, which reinforces her commitment to having athletes engage in leadership roles.