Canadian sports organizations are facing a variety of challenges as they move into the future. The Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Abuse in Sports (UCCMS) has been established to ensure that all athletes benefit from improved governance and performance. Sport Canada is currently reviewing the entire system and will require organizations to meet “higher standards of governance, accountability and safe sports” in order to receive funding. The Heritage Committee has been recommended to initiate the creation of an applicable Canadian code of good sports governance, in line with the Cologne Consensus and international best practices.
This code will “establish independent, transparent and accountable governance in NSOs to “improve the performance of the board of directors and improve organizational performance”, and will provide “an objective standard against which funders and other stakeholders can be compared.” Canadian sports organizations have a responsibility to support the health and well-being of their participants and to keep them safe. It is recommended that one percent of national and provincial health budgets be allocated to “sports for all.” Sport Canada has long had a sports funding accountability framework that it uses to determine NSO funding, but it doesn't make it public. Today's leaders are in an important position to learn from the mistakes of the past and create a new way forward in which all children, young people and athletes can safely participate in sports. However, there are still few details about what the improved governance and accountability measures will look like or how Sport Canada will enforce them, and no discernible changes for sports other than hockey.
No member of the management or executive team of the organization can be a member of the board and establishes term limits, which include no more than six years for the chairman of the board. As professional sports teams move into the future, they face a variety of challenges (and opportunities), many of which are discussed in this chapter. The code acts as a set of best practices together with other efforts to increase the capacities of NSOs and awareness of the role that good governance plays in preventing and solving problems in sports. Canadian sports organizations are mainly funded by their athletes achieving results, such as international medals, records, better performances, etc.
