Health committee  That's an excellent question. My short answer is that we really engage communities and get them to provide input on what their needs are and that we not make assumptions. As an example, when we approached the community in Whitehorse, we asked for their input in the design, th

Health committee  I can certainly speak to that. We have funded, and continue to fund, many of the Special Olympics chapters across the country in specific programming. We have provided some grants to many of the chapters to help the younger participants travel to some of the national events that

Health committee  We may need to extend the meeting by a couple of hours. In our case, we were a beneficiary of close to $7 million of Community Sport for All funding, which we matched. We were able to reach almost 2,000 organizations across the country. Some examples of that are programming in

Health committee  Virtually nil. We are in the unique position of having all of our administrative expenses covered by Canadian Tire Corporation. In the interest of making sure that money got out as quickly possible, we used a small portion to bring one staff member on so that we could expedite th

Health committee  If I may add one additional point, there is an economic argument to be made here as well. A coalition of concerned stakeholders from the sport, physical activity and recreation community in the greater Calgary area published a report in 2020 showing the economic activity direc

Health committee  Safety is one of the barriers that are articulated by youth directly, but it is by no means the number one barrier they express. Generally, cost comes out on top. Feelings of self-confidence for girls and young women come in at number two or number three, and the list goes on.

Health committee  That's an excellent question. Thank you. I'd like to suggest that we should just be focusing on getting them involved in local sport and physical activity opportunities. We actually worked in partnership with the federal government in 2015-16, when a large number of Syrian re

Health committee  Again, that's a very good question. I think we need to recognize that sport happens in many more locations than just local clubs. The vast majority of organizations that we support are on the periphery of organized sport. They provide safe, welcoming and inclusive places for kid

Health committee  That is a very good question. Let me answer in English to be clearer. Thank you for the question. I think it's very important to recognize that schools are one of the many locations within the community ecosystem that play an important role in providing opportunities for child

Health committee  It's an excellent question. There is absolutely a disproportionate drop-off that occurs as girls enter their teenage years. Approximately one in every two girls tends to drop out of sport between the age of 12 and the time they would graduate from high school, in comparison to o

Health committee  It's a mix of all those things. Representation matters very much for girls and young women, so having coaches and youth activity leaders who reflect their needs and understand their needs.... They don't have to be women, but at least be mindful of the challenges that girls and

Health committee  It's certainly not unique to Canada. What we have working to our benefit right now is that there is some very targeted funding from Sport Canada, the Ministry of Women and Gender Equity and Health Canada that is helping to overcome some of these challenges, but there is much work

Health committee  Yes, absolutely. There was a disproportionate effect on girls and young women relative to their male counterparts during and after COVID-19 for a number of reasons. First, boys' sports and programs were prioritized when the money and the resources got tight. Second, there were

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities is a national charity committed to ensuring Canadian kids have equal access to sport and recreation. Operating through 289 distinct community chapters from coast to coast, Jumpstart creates opportunities for kids in financi