Main Navigation

Search

Safety in Sport Project Updates

The Province of British Columbia has invested $7.83 million to support strategies to advance greater safety in the amateur sport sector.

viaSport’s vision is for sport to be safe, welcoming and accessible to everyone.

To reach this goal, we will:

  1. Help people create positive sport environments by building awareness and education through the use of PlaySafe tools and resources; and
  2. Establish an independent entity dedicated to ensuring safe and respectful participation for everyone in amateur sport across BC in a professional and trauma-informed manner that avoids conflicts of interest.

This work fits with viaSport’s four strategic pillars for safety in sport: Prevent, Report, Respond, and Uphold. Read more about viaSport’s position on Safety in Sport here.

Project Updates

viaSport has initiated a phased approach to advance this work:

  1. Convene
  2. Confirm
  3. Create

We are currently in phase 3: Create. See below for details.

CONVENE – Complete

viaSport has been focused on advancing safety in sport since 2019 and has engaged with sport sector leaders and sport participants to understand the gaps and system needs.

Through consultations across all sport roles and levels in British Columbia, we heard a clear need for an independent entity dedicated to ensuring safe and respectful participation for everyone in amateur sport across BC that is accessible, safe from retaliation, transparent, and trauma-informed. Further, an independent process is essential to ensure impartiality, eliminate conflicts of interest, and build trust, while allowing for fairness without influence from the sport organizations involved. Participants also emphasized the importance of cultural safety, psychological support, confidentiality, and efficient communication to create a fair, user-friendly process for everyone.

Read more about what we learned from those opportunities:

CONFIRM – Complete

Announced on April 24, 2024, the Province, in partnership with viaSport, is establishing an independent non-profit organization (Society) that will engage with a service provider to provide a trusted space to voice concerns and to work to resolve issues with integrity with the goal to strengthen safety and well-being in sport. Read the Information Bulletin here.

Independence is important to mitigate biases and foster accountability and transparency by prioritizing fair and impartial resolution. Setting up a Society separate from viaSport establishes independence from viaSport’s role in stewarding government’s investment in BC amateur sport. viaSport will be responsible for appointing the first Directors to the Board based on a roster of candidates that have been vetted through an independent recruitment process. viaSport will not be directly involved in the day-to-day operations of the Society.

viaSport will continue to own and develop PlaySafe, a centralized online hub with practical tools and resources for individuals to learn how to contribute to a positive sport culture and foster safe experiences.

(*Current Phase*) CREATE – Underway

Sport Safeguarding BC is the independent society being created to establish and maintain a complaint management system for amateur sport in BC. Sport Safeguarding BC will independently oversee complaint resolution services with clear and enforceable standards. Read the Information Bulletin here.

An independent firm, Watson Advisors, Inc., conducted an open call for potential Board Directors. Candidates were assessed using a “Skills and Diversity Matrix” created by viaSport in consultation with the Province. A short list of candidates was vetted and interviewed by a committee of the viaSport Board.

Sport Safeguarding BC is registered as a Society by the First Board Directors. The Society’s role is to provide a trusted space to voice concerns and to work to resolve issues with integrity with the goal to strengthen safety and well-being in sport. Initially, the services, as determined by Sport Safeguarding BC, will be offered to the members and clubs of sports in the viaSport Designation Program. More information on timelines will be communicated by Sport Safeguarding BC

See FAQs for more details, including information on services and expected timelines.