Future Of Sport Commission Delivers Final Report On Sport Reform In Canada

The Future of Sport in Canada Commission, led by Commissioner Lise Maisonneuve, former Chief Justice of the Ontario Court of Justice, has delivered its final report outlining findings and recommendations on how to improve safe sport and the sport system in Canada from the grassroots to high performance. The independent review provides a roadmap for change focused on prevention, response, and support in safe sport, and on renewed leadership, alignment, governance, funding and investment across the Canadian sport system.

Established in December 2023, the Commission engaged thousands of participants, including victims and survivors, sport participants, subject-matter experts, academics, advocates, sport organizations and governments, through a nationwide engagement process, which included a public online submission portal, meetings, in-camera sessions, subject-specific and regional roundtables, a public online survey and a National Summit on the Future of Sport in Canada, which took place in Ottawa in September 2025.

The Commission’s 98 Calls to Action urge coordinated reform to make sport in Canada safe, accountable and inclusive. They call for consistent safe sport standards and accessible complaint pathways nationwide (moving toward a single Pan-Canadian Safe Sport Authority); fair, trauma-informed resolution processes with meaningful sanctions and supports; and prevention-focused investments in education, background screening, safeguarding officers, and a pan-Canadian registry of sanctioned individuals in sport. The final report also calls for stronger leadership and oversight through intergovernmental collaboration and the creation of a Centralized Sport Entity, mandatory governance standards, and greater system efficiency, supported by a renewed funding strategy with clear conditions, monitoring and audits. The Commission finally calls for coordinated action to reduce financial barriers, improve sport infrastructure, and advance equity, diversity, and inclusion, including fulfilling the Government of Canada’s commitments under the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action related to sport, respecting Indigenous self-determination, and ensuring Indigenous perspectives inform implementation of the Commission’s final report.

BLG was legal counsel to the Commissioner – led by Nadia Effendi, alongside Karine Fahmy and Chanel Maillet Glas. The firm’s deep expertise in administrative and public law, combined with the team’s experience managing sensitive reviews and inquiries, positioned them to navigate the complex privacy, access to information, constitutional and public law issues inherent in this mandate. The firm provided strategic counsel throughout the Commission’s activities, including during the engagement process, the drafting of both reports, and the National Summit on the Future of Sport in Canada.

Read the full report here: Future of Sport in Canada Commission Final Report Transforming Sport in Canada: Time for Action - Canada.ca