OTTAWA (April 19, 2022) – In November 2020, the Ottawa Sport Council received a $72,000 Seed grant from the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) to develop a standardized Safe Sport Toolkit to increase program safety and inclusiveness and ensure safe sport resources reach the community level. The Ottawa Safe Sport Toolkit is a free online toolkit developed to foster safe, welcoming, and inclusive sport environments for participants of all ages and abilities. The toolkit was developed collaboratively with Ottawa based member sport organizations through a pilot program. Today we are thrilled to launch the Ottawa Safe Sport Toolkit to all community sport organizations in Ottawa.

“Ottawa Sport Council’s commitment to promoting inclusivity and accessibility in sports programing is unmatched,” said Ottawa Centre MPP Joel Harden. “The staff and volunteers of Ottawa Sport Council have done incredible work supporting community sport organizations with their ‘Ottawa Safe Sport Toolkit,’ which provides local community sport groups with accessible resources to identify and mitigate risk, engage participants, and create conditions for inclusive, safe, and welcoming sport experiences. I am pleased that the Ontario Trillium Foundation supported this work, and I am excited for Ottawa Sport Council to continue serving the community.”

In 2019, the Federal Government and the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) announced resources to help combat misconduct in the sporting world, but the work does not stop there. The Ottawa Safe Sport Toolkit is a fundamental building block to create a healthy supportive environment in which all Ottawa community sport members can thrive. The goal of the toolkit is to provide organizations with user-friendly resources that that identify and mitigate risks, engage participants and other stakeholders (e.g., coaches, officials, administrators, volunteers), and that are customized to the community level sport environment. The Ottawa Safe Sport Toolkit will continue to be updated as new information and resources become available.

“We are so appreciative of the support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation to enable us to develop the Ottawa Safe Sport Toolkit- a resource developed by the community for the community,” said Marcia Morris, Executive Director of the Ottawa Sport Council. “This grant has not only allowed us to develop the Toolkit, but it has also fostered necessary conversations about the importance of Safe Sport which will help to build a safe and welcoming environment across our entire sport sector.”

The Ottawa Safe Sport Toolkit was developed under the leadership of the Ottawa Sport Council based on industry best practices and a framework informed by 12 local sport organizations. The Ottawa Sport Council is grateful to be offering this resource with the funding provided by the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

About the Ottawa Sport Council: As the unified voice of amateur sport in Ottawa, the Ottawa Sport Council (OSC) facilitates advocacy and growth for all community sport organizations. We believe that there should only be positive experiences in sport.

About the Ontario Trillium Foundation: The Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is an agency of the Government of Ontario, and one of Canada’s leading granting foundations. Last year, nearly $112M was invested into 1,384 community projects and partnerships to build healthy and vibrant communities and strengthen the impact of Ontario’s non-profit sector. In 2020/21, OTF supported Ontario’s economic recovery by helping non-profit organizations rebuild and recover from the impacts of COVID-19.  Visit otf.ca to learn more.

For more information please contact:

Marcia Morris, P. Eng

Executive Director, directrice générale

Conseil du sport d’Ottawa Sport Council

marci@sportottawa.ca