Feds provide funding for community sports activities in Oakville, Burlington, Milton
Published January 23, 2023 at 4:20 pm
A total of 13 organizations across Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills will be receiving $67,653 in funding for community sports activities through the Government of Canada’s Community Sports for All Initiative.
The announcement was made by Milton MP Adam Van Koeverden on Monday (Jan. 23), who also added that KidSport Canada has allocated $250,000 of its total of its total Community Sport for All Initiative funding to opening 10 new KidSport chapters across Canada, one of which will be in the Halton region.
“Sport, physical activity and recreation teach essential life lessons and are a catalyst to a healthy and happy lifestyle,” said van Koeverden, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport, who made the announcement on behalf of the Honourable Pascale St-Onge, Minister of Sport and Minister responsible for the Economic Development Agency of Canada for the Regions of Quebec.
“Equal access to these opportunities is a matter of health equity for Canadians of all ages and backgrounds. Initiatives like this one with KidSport help us create a more inclusive Canadian sport system that benefits everyone.”
The aim of the support by the federal government is to facilitate access to community sport activities and eliminate barriers to participation in organized sport.
“Local sport and health organizations make all the difference in the well-being of our communities,” said Burlington MP Karina Gould, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development. “Through the Community Sport for All Initiative, our government is encouraging the removal of barriers to participation for people in Burlington and right across the country.”
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Organized by the funded groups, sports activities for the kids range from martial arts and cross fit to soccer and gymnastics.
The organized activities will help reduce barriers that hinder participation in sport, particularly in Black, Indigenous and racialized communities or among 2SLGBTQI+ groups, people with low incomes, newcomers and persons with disabilities.
“Our children deserve the best possible start in life,” said Oakville MP Anita Anand, Minister of National Defence. “No child in Canada should ever experience barriers to living a healthy lifestyle. Through the Community Sport for All Initiative, we are supporting communities in their efforts to promote and deliver inclusive sport programs.
“This funding will enable children in Oakville and across Halton to access crucial opportunities in sport and will foster a better quality of life for young people in Canada.”
A total of $80 million dollars, as announced in the 2021 Budget, is be handed out across the country over two years.
The project is guided by the following principals:
- Affordable: Projects will be offered at minimal or no cost to participants.
- Results-oriented: Projects will be delivered in such a way as to increase participation and retention of equity-deserving communities and, ultimately, drive behavioural change.
- Focused on organized sport: While other activities may be included (such as movement skills development), the primary activity must be organized sport and must adhere to safe sport practices.
- Green: Delivery of the projects should produce minimal or positive environmental impact.
- Accessible: Projects must be tailored to the needs of one or more of the equity-deserving groups but need not be exclusionary and can be open to all and should allow for a wide range of athletic ability.
- Available: Projects should seek to be delivered in underserved communities and to achieve regional diversity.