Women in Sport Leadership Snapshots
Working towards gender equity in sport leadership has the potential to change our sport system for the better. Diverse boards, leadership teams and staff mean sport organizations are more innovative, inclusive, accountable and better able to manage risk including safe sport, financial sustainability and effective governance.
The Women in Sport Leadership Snapshots highlight and celebrate recent successes in sport leadership diversity at the national and provincial and territorial levels. They also challenge sport organizations to continue to embed gender equity in their organizations and bring diversity, beyond gender, to their boards and senior leadership teams so more women, girls, and gender-diverse people are represented in the sport system and can benefit from the power of sport.
2023 Snapshot
In recent years, commitments from all levels of governments, dedicated funding sources and strong leadership from within sport organizations have continued to drive gender equity in sport leadership forward.
Over the past five years, the percentage of women holding board seats in the national sport system has increased by 9 points (from 34% in 2018 to 43% in 2023).
43% of National Board Members are Women (+2% from 2022)
40% of National Board Chairs are Women (+2% from 2022)
Gender equity at the staff leadership level has held steady over time and is higher than most other industries in Canada.
Learn more in the 2023 Snapshot.
Past Snapshots
2021-2022
The 2021/2022 survey of nationally funded sport organizations in Canada shows that public attention, and dedicated funding from Sport Canada, continued to drive change for the national sport system. Compared to 2019, after the government commitment was announced, the percentage of women holding board seats jumped by 5 points.
2020-21
The 2021/2022 survey of nationally funded sport organizations in Canada shows that public attention, and dedicated funding from Sport Canada, continued to drive change for the national sport system. Compared to 2019, after the government commitment was announced, the percentage of women holding board seats jumped by 5 points.
2019-20
The 2019-2020 report summarizes the composition of decision-making at National Sport Organizations (NSOs), Multisport Service Organizations (MSOs) and, new this year, Canadian Sport Institutes (CSIs). The good news: Sport in Canada is making steady progress in including perspectives from women. The challenge: We still have work to do. Let’s create conversation and spark action.
2018-19
The 2018-2019 snapshot reflects a promising trend, with the number of women on boards up 2 per cent from 2018. In January of 2019, sport organizations reported an overwhelming intention to make a formal commitment to gender equity in their governance documents; however, only 47 per cent reported that they had a documented commitment already in place at the board level. Only 17 per cent reported a similar commitment at the senior staff level.
2017-18
Our 2017-2018 inaugural snapshot demonstrated that while there is progress being made, women are still underrepresented in sport leadership. In January of 2018, 45 per cent of sport organizations had fewer than 30 per cent women on their boards. This thirty percent threshold is a critical mass required to ensure that diverse voices are well considered.
This project is funded in part by the Government of Canada.