New 2022 Data Shows Sport Boards Continue to Improve their Gender Balance, But Greater Diversity Still Needed at Provincial and Territorial Level of Sport.
Canadian Women & Sport has released the 2022 edition of its Provincial and Territorial Women in Sport Leadership Snapshot. This report marks the first time that Canadian Women & Sport has rolled up board data from provinces and territories. This data is important as provincial and territorial sport organizations (PTSO) have significant influence in grassroots sport, which makes the leaders in the sport system in Canada.
As with national data, there is both positive momentum and a need for more work as the deadline for boards of directors of funded organizations reach gender parity by December 2024, looms two years away. The full Snapshot can be found here.
The Snapshot indicates continued improvement in the representation of women in leadership. Women now hold 44% of all board seats at provincial/territorial funded sport organizations, a number slightly ahead of national organizations, with some provinces and territories hitting parity. Having diverse perspectives will help make sport better for all.
The Snapshot also identified significant need for improvement in the leadership representation of BIPOC women (Black, Indigenous and Persons of Colour) and women with disabilities. Although women are approaching parity overall, BIPOC women and women with disabilities remain highly underrepresented. Addressing this should be a priority within national sport organizations in the year ahead. Positively, more organizations are gathering demographic data from staff and board members, which is an important first step in assessing the gaps to close and creating appropriate plans to improve representation.
Provincial and territorial data for this report was collected from a survey sent to 754 organizations who receive provincial/territorial funding. 416 organizations completed the survey for a response rate of 56%.
Download the 2021-2022 Provincial/Territorial Report
Canadian Women & Sport appreciates the support of its sport organization partners for providing their data, making this annual report possible.
We are also grateful and acknowledge the support of the Government of Canada.
About Canadian Women & Sport
Canadian Women & Sport is dedicated to creating an equitable and inclusive Canadian sport and physical activity system that empowers girls and women—as active participants and leaders—within and through sport. With a focus on systemic change, we partner with sport organizations, governments, and leaders to challenge the status quo and build better sport through gender equity.
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