The Government of Canada is committed to building stronger, healthier communities across the country. The transformative power of sport plays an important role in achieving this goal. Sport builds self-esteem and leadership skills and allows people to grow and thrive-physically, emotionally and socially.
To support organized sport at the community level, Adam van Koeverden, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport, on behalf of the Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec, announced today that ParticipACTION, as a national-level organization, will receive $4,667,000 in funding in 2022-23 from the Community Sport for All Initiative.
ParticipACTION will have a call for applications in the fall to deliver grants to 800 community-level organizations through the existing ParticipACTION Community Challenge application and granting infrastructure. The 2023 edition of the Community Challenge will engage equity-deserving groups, including Black people, Indigenous people, newcomers to Canada, and people from 2SLGBTQQIA+ communities. Recognizing there are intersecting factors to these targeted groups, ParticipACTION will also include persons with a disability, low-income individuals, and women and girls.
Canadian Women & Sport, Rowing Canada Aviron, Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities and KidSport Canada were the first four national-level funding recipients announced under the Community Sport for All Initiative. More opportunities for community-based groups to apply for funding will come soon as the remaining national-level recipients will be announced later this summer. The role of the national-level recipients is to redistribute funding to community-based groups.
As announced in Budget 2021, up to $80 million over two years will be distributed across the country. The investment will help kick-start accessible local organized sports and remove barriers to participation in sport programming.
