Sports minister St-Onge says NDAs in athlete agreements are contrary to safe sport

Pascale St-Onge says non-disclosure agreements go against the very principle of safe sport.

Canada's sports minister was responding to concerns from bobsled and skeleton athletes about a non-disclosure clause in their athlete agreement for the upcoming season.

Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton and Boxing Canada are among national sport organizations that have NDAs in their agreements.

Signed agreements are mandatory if athletes want to compete and receive Sport Canada funding.

St-Onge told The Canadian Press that the silence in sport needs to be broken and she expects all national sport organizations to actively participate in that.

AthletesCAN, the association representing Canadian athletes, wrote a template for athlete agreements in 2019 which does not have a non-disparagement clause, and the template was adopted by numerous sports including Water Polo Canada, Athletics Canada, Gymnastics Canada and Canada Snowboard.

Canada Basketball is also among sports that have no NDA for athletes.

AthletesCAN, which wrote the template with the support of Sport Canada, set a goal for 100 per cent uptake by national sport organizations by 2022. That hasn't happened.

The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2022.