Newcomer experiences
For community sport organizations, newcomers to Canada are an important source of future participants/members, staff, and volunteers. Taking the time to consider the experiences of newcomers when they walk through your doors or onto your fields – and taking action to make those experiences better – can help build authentic and long-lasting relationships.
Reasons for sport
Research suggests newcomers to Canada turn to sport and physical activity for many reasons, including expanding one’s social network, improving health and wellness, and integrating into Canadian society. Sport organizations can build on this opportunity to expand their networks and membership through authentic engagement.
Five Recommendations to Authentically Engage Newcomers in Sport
Events of 2020 provided a catalyst for sport administrators and community leaders to more directly consider how to create inclusive sport and physical activity opportunities for underrepresented communities (e.g., ethno-racial minorities, LGBTQ2S communities, persons with disabilities). One community receiving increasing attention is newcomers to Canada. Research shows that individuals who have recently immigrated to Canada…
Putting Inclusion to Practice
Creating inclusive programs and environments is a priority for many organizations, but what does this mean in practice? Inspiring programs such as the Hijabi Ballers, Free Footie and the North Preston Surf Program put the inclusion principles of respect, dignity and openness into action.
Chinese-Canadians’ perspectives on health & sport participation
Project Summary The main objective of the project was to investigate Chinese-Canadians’ perspectives about health and sport practice. Overall, participants reported both positive and negative changes in their perspectives and practices related to health and sport participation after immigrating to Canada. They experienced both cultural conflicts and integration. Multiple factors influenced their sport participation. For…
Gender-based Violence in Sport
Coaches can play an important role in teaching athletes about healthy relationships in and through sport. The Coaching Association of Canada is leading a new project to build the capacity of coaches and other sport system stakeholders to help prevent and address gender-based and teen dating violence. To learn about the project and complete coach and athlete…
Commercialization of Public Spaces
For newcomers, informal sport can be an initial (and long-term) source of friendships and social networks that help with settlement, integration and belonging. However, in Sydney, Australia, the commercialization of public outdoor space, whether for rentals or redevelopment, is threatening this type of participation. Learn more in this article from The Conversation.
Charlottetown Figure Skating Club
Immigration is diversifying Canadian communities, and represents an important audience for the Canadian sport and physical activity sector. This video, produced through the Government of Canada’s #ImmigrationMatters initiative, shares the story of how the Charlottetown Skating Club was revived by the enthusastic participation of the Chinese community. For tips on engaging newcomers to Canada in…
Inclusion requires action! Creating inclusion for newcomers to Canada
It is clear that the next generation will be diverse, multicultural and, apparently, much less fit than the previous generations. Research points in this general direction, but results from the recent TOPO survey, released in May 2018, demonstrates this trend clearly. The 2017 survey engaged 13,400 children and 7,800 parents across all school boards on…
NEWCOMERS EXPERIENCES WITH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN CANADA
SIRC is pleased to be working together with Sport Canada to share current research on topics informing policy and promoting quality sport programming. This week we are sharing highlights of a recent article reviewing a research study evaluating NEWCOMERS EXPERIENCES WITH PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IN CANADA. Fitting it in: How being new to Canada influences physical…