Mr. Speaker, with regard to part (a), since 2018, Sport Canada has worked in consultation with experts and athletes to promote safe, welcoming and inclusive environments for all sport participants, bolstered by investments in budgets 2018, 2019, 2022 and 2023.
The Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner, OSIC, was launched by the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada, SDRCC, in June 2022 as part of the abuse-free sport program. The OSIC manages complaints related to violations of the universal code of conduct to prevent and address maltreatment in sport, UCCMS, and undertakes sport environment assessments. The abuse-free sport program also offers education, prevention tools and resources.
Given that the abuse-free sport program, including the OSIC, was established in 2022, Sport Canada did not provide funding for the program prior to the 2021-22 fiscal year. However, since 2021-22, Sport Canada has provided the following funding to support the abuse-free sport program, including the OSIC: $2,067,500 in 2021-22, including $272,500 to establish the OSIC; $4,000,000 in 2022-23, including $1,862,200 to implement the OSIC; $6,000,000 in 2023-24, including $3,380,000 to maintain and enhance the OSIC; and $4,000,000 in 2024-2025, including $2,685,000 to maintain the OSIC.
With regard to part (b), given that the abuse-free sport program, including the OSIC, was established in 2022, the following information pertains to 2022 onward. In 2022-23, the OSIC had six full-time staff members and one part-time staff member. In 2023-24, the OSIC had seven full-time staff members, one part-time staff member and one temporary staff member. As of 2024-25, the OSIC has 10 full-time staff members, one part-time staff member and three temporary staff members.
These figures only include the OSIC’s employees and contractors. The entire abuse-free sport program includes more employees who are not part of the OSIC, such as those employed to work on safe sport education, athlete/survivor outreach, research, legal aid, mental health support, accounting and communications, as well as safeguarding tribunal staff. The director of sanctions and its deputy director are not included in these figures as they do not report to the OSIC.
With regard to (c)(i), the following information was gathered through the SDRCC’s regular reporting, which is publicly available. Between June 20, 2022, when the OSIC was launched, and March 31, 2023, a total of 96 complaints were received, 32 of which were admissible to the OSIC. In 2023-24, a total of 299 complaints were received, 134 of which were admissible to the OSIC. In the first period of 2024-25, a total of 187 complaints were received, 77 of which were admissible to the OSIC.
With regard to (c)(ii), in 2022-23, 64 of the 96 complaints received were deemed inadmissible to the OSIC. In 2023-24, 165 of the 299 complaints received were deemed inadmissible to the OSIC. In the first period of 2024-25, 110 of the 187 complaints received were deemed inadmissible to the OSIC.
With regard to (c)(iii), in 2022-23, provisional measures were imposed by the office of the director of sanctions, DSO, in eight cases. In 2023-24, provisional measures were imposed by the office of the DSO in 34 cases. In the first semester of 2024-25, provisional measures were imposed by the office of the DSO in 32 cases.
Further information can be found on the OSIC’s website, annual reports from 2022-23 and 2023-34 and periodical reports from June 20–September 19, 2022, September 20–December 31, 2022, January 1–March 31, 2023, April 1–June 30, 2023, July 1–October 31, 2023, November 1–March 31, 2024, and April 1–September 30, 2024. For more information, please contact the OSIC.
With regard to (d)(i) and (ii), clear data on the total number of complaints deemed inadmissible due to the respondent not being under the authority of a program signatory or being involved at the provincial, territorial or club level is not available for fiscal year 2022-23. As of April 1, 2023, the Government of Canada required federally funded sport organizations to participate in the abuse-free sport program to be eligible for federal funding. During this transition, some cases initially deemed inadmissible were reactivated when relevant sport organizations joined the abuse-free sport program.
The following information was gathered through the SDRCC’s regular reporting, which is publicly available. In 2023-24, complaints were deemed inadmissible for the following reasons: the organization listed is a program signatory of abuse-free sport, but the respondent is not a participant under the authority of a signatory, e.g., involved at the club level only – 63%; the matter is unrelated to the UCCMS – 26%; or the complaint/report contained inadequate information to proceed, e.g., no respondent identified, and no method of contacting the reporter to obtain necessary information was provided – 8.2%; the organization is not a signatory – 1.4%; other reasons – 1.4%.
The total number of inadmissible complaints is not available, as some complaints were deemed inadmissible for multiple reasons and are counted in more than one of the above categories.
Further information can be found in the OSIC’s website, annual reports from 2022-23 and 2023-34 and periodical reports from June 20–September 19, 2022, September 20–December 31, 2022, January 1–March 31, 2023, April 1–June 30, 2023, July 1–October 31, 2023, November 1–March 31, 2024, and April 1–September 30, 2024. For more information, please contact the OSIC.