Future of Sport in Canada Commission deadline extended after federal cabinet shakeup

The Future of Sport in Canada Commission can delay its final recommendations on how to make sport safer after it was granted an extension.

Steven Guilbeault, who assumed responsibility for sports in last week's federal cabinet shuffle by new Prime Minister Mark Carney, announced Wednesday an extension to March 31, 2026, for the commission to conclude its work.

The original 18-month timeline would have ended the commission in late 2025.

The commission's job is to give recommendations on making sport safer, in light of what's been called a safe-sport crisis by Guilbeault's predecessors, and to provide opinions on improving the sport system overall.

Former sports minister Carla Qualtrough announced the commission in December, 2023. Last year's federal budget provided $10.6 million over two years to the commission.

But after the seventh leadership change in eight years to the federal sports portfolio, the extension pushes the commission's final report from November 2025 into 2026.

While sport has largely had its own public-facing identity in federal politics in a decade of Liberal government, it's been punted under Guilbeault's umbrella a second time.

Carney made Guilbeault the Minister of Canadian Culture and Identity, Parks Canada and Quebec Lieutenant in last week's cabinet shakeup. Sport was also under Guilbeault's watch from 2019 to 2021 when it fell under his Heritage department.

Neither his office, nor the commission, immediately responded to emailed questions about why an extension was needed and what extra time will accomplish.

"Sport builds communities, stimulates economies, and contributes to the overall well-being of Canadians and the country. However, without sufficient safeguards and accountability, sport can