INFRASTRUCTURE

 

BUILD SPORT, PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND RECREATION INTO EVERY COMMUNITY – It’s time for a national sport and recreation infrastructure strategy and a renewed infrastructure fund.

 

•       In 2006, Canada’s provincial/territorial Ministers for Sport, Physical Activity and Recreation estimated that Canada has a $15 billion sport, physical activity and recreation infrastructure deficit.[1] 

 

•       67% of our sport and recreation facilities are over 25 years old and need major repair or replacement, while some communities have few or no facilities at all.[1]

 

•       Recognizing this, provincial/territorial ministers set a goal – $10 billion in new sport and recreation infrastructure investment over ten years (2007-2016). 

 

•       Since then, governments across Canada have invested over $3 billion in sport and recreation infrastructure projects (2008-2010), through the federal Recreation Infrastructure Canada (RINC) program and other infrastructure programs.

 

•       These investments have generated real benefits – jobs in communities hit hard by the recession, better access to sport and recreation, and increased sport and physical activity participation – but the job is far from done.

 

•       We need federal leadership to close the remaining sport and recreation infrastructure gap and a strategy to ensure the facilities we build are the right ones, in the right places and are designed to create the most sport and physical activity opportunities possible, in the most sustainable way.

 

 

WHAT YOUR PARTY CAN DO:

 

1.     Renew RINC – A 3-5 year renewal of this highly popular, cost-shared sport and recreation infrastructure program will benefit hundreds of communities, contribute to ongoing economic recovery, and help remove a major barrier to increased physical activity for Canadians of all ages.

 

2.     Create a Canada Sport and Recreation Infrastructure Strategy – Developed with provincial and municipal governments and the sport, recreation and physical activity sectors, this blueprint would guide future infrastructure investments to ensure they are sustainable, promote participation, are fully accessible, and include facilities ranging from the local/community level through to the national/high performance level.

 

3.     Promote the renewal and implementation of a comprehensive National Sport Hosting Strategy – By taking a long-range approach to targeting, attracting, and hosting large international sport events, Canada can do a better job of leveraging these to build critical regional sport and recreation infrastructure, boost grassroots sport participation, generate economic benefits, and distribute these more evenly across the country.

 

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