To: Canada's Minister of Sport and Physical Activity Carla Qualtrough
Changing Sport Canada's Funding Model
The Sport Funding Framework (SFF) is the tool used by Canadian Heritage to identify which organizations are eligible to receive Sport Canada contributions under the Sport Support Program.
Currently, this funding framework is has limitations on who can receive funding that is restrictive and places too much focus on high performance.
Some of these restrictions are as follows:
-be affiliated with the International Federation (IF) for its sport and recognized by the IF as the governing body for the sport or discipline in Canada; and
meet the criteria outlined in Sport Canada’s definition of sport for funding purposes.
The current definition of sport for funding purposes is further restrictive:
"The sport is a regulated form of physical activity organized as a contest between two or more participants for the purpose of determining a winner by fair and ethical means.
The sport requires a competitive format and structure, sanctioned by the recognized governing body for the sport, at either the national or international/world level, and open to all participants who meet the eligibility criteria outlined in the rules of the sport."
Why is this important?
These restrictions limit the capacity of organisations that are focused on using sport for development from accessing needed funds to operate and deliver programming for communities in Canada.
By making the funding framework and definition of sport more open to allowing other sport organisations access to funds, we can refocus the sport system in Canada away from it's sole focus on medals to one focused on social, economic and environmental benefits in communities across Canada.