The ‘Coles Notes’ on the Future: FSQ Sport’s Take on the Commission’s Final Report

The wait is finally over. On March 24, 2026, the Future of Sport in Canada Commission dropped its Final Report, and let’s just say it didn’t hold back. At FSQ Sport, we’ve been banging the drum for a “quality over medals” approach for years, and it seems the Commission has finally joined the percussion section.

The report confirms what many of us in the trenches already knew: the Canadian sport system is broken, fragmented, and unsustainable. But instead of just pointing at the cracks, it provides a 98-point roadmap to fix them.

You can read our full “Coles Notes” version of the recommendations that will define the next five years of sport in Canada in the link below. 

The key emerging themes include:

1. The Big Shake-Up: Governance & Leadership

The Commission is calling for a total overhaul of how sport is managed at the federal level. No more “eight ministers in fifteen years” musical chairs.

• A Dedicated Department: The report recommends a single federal minister responsible for sport with their own department (currently, it’s split between Heritage and Health).

• The Centralized Sport Entity: A new Crown Corporation should be created to oversee all sport. Think of it as a private-sector efficiency model with government-level accountability.

• Mandatory Standards: National Sport Organizations (NSOs) will no longer get to “self-police.” If you want federal funding, you meet the new mandatory governance standards. Period.

2. Safe Sport: Beyond the Band-Aid

Maltreatment isn’t a “glitch” in the system; the Commission found it is systemic and ongoing. The recommendations move from “checking boxes” to actual systemic change.

• Pan-Canadian Safe Sport Authority: A single, independent body to investigate and adjudicate all reports of maltreatment across all levels of sport (grassroots to elite).

• The Registry: A national registry of sanctioned individuals to ensure that if someone is banned in one province or sport, they can’t just hop over the border or change jerseys.

• Safeguarding Officers: Every federally funded organization must have a designated safeguarding officer on staff.

3. Funding: The “Underfunded = Unsafe” Equation

One of the most powerful takeaways is the direct link between money and safety. As Justice Lise Maisonneuve put it: “An underfunded sports system is an unsafe sports system.”

4. Culture & The “5Cs” Alignment

At FSQ Sport, we live by the 5Cs (Competence, Confidence, Character, Connection, Culture). The Commission’s report echoes this by demanding that equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) move from being “add-ons” to being the foundation.

“Restoring trust in the sport system requires meaningful, coordinated action across all levels. Sport should be a source of joy and pride, not a site of harm.”

— Justice Lise Maisonneuve, Commission Lead

What’s Next?

The report calls for a five-year phased implementation, but the heavy lifting starts today. The status quo has officially been served its walking papers. At FSQ, we are ready to help organizations navigate these new standards—not just to comply, but to thrive.