Canadian sports organizations, corporate sponsors see grassroots investment as key opportunity

Take the Ava Road entrance to Cedarvale Park in midtown Toronto, and follow the path slightly uphill.

After a few hundred metres, you’ll see public tennis courts to your right. On your left, a grassy field is often occupied by children playing soccer.

Then, in that same area, attached to the pole of a streetlight, is a box containing three soccer balls.

Provided by Jumpstart, the charitable arm of Canadian Tire, the soccer balls are free to take. The process is simple: sign up for an app, pick a ball, the screen door will unlock, and you’re good to go. 

It’s not the only example across Toronto, either. At Wychwood Park, there are ping-pong paddles and volleyballs. Earlscourt Park has basketballs. Vermont Square has petanque equipment.

All this free access to sports equipment is an example of how the private and philanthropic sectors can promote sport in Canada. 

As federal funding of national sports organizations (NSOs) remained static for most of the past 20 years, private-sector involvement in sport also became more difficult to secure for many of the organizations.

A New Game Plan: How sports power Australia might offer Canada clues on how to fix its 'broken' system

Everyone into the pool: Canada's sports bodies grapple with push toward merging organizations

A New Game Plan: Sports Funding 101

A New Game Plan: What Australia can teach Canada about rebuilding its sports system

Are Canada's aging sports facilities limiting development of the next Summer McIntosh?

A sign in a Toronto park provides instructions on how to access free sporting equipment, part of a program by Canadian Tire's Jumpstart program. (Myles Dichter/CBC)

Combined, it led Canadian sport to a crisis point, with the Future of Sport in Canada Commission