Sport for Development in Canada

Canada has a longstanding connection to Sport for Development (SfD) policy and programming, both domestically and in other countries. These activities have, in some cases, been a matter of public policy and supported by government, and in other cases have been led by non-governmental organisations. In this chapter, we examine some of the key social science literature examining the phenomenon and practice of SfD in Canada. Overall, we show that sport has been deployed in response to a wide range of public policy issues and challenges in Canada. We discuss major themes in the literature in order to discuss both the possibilities and limitations of organising and deploying sport to meet non-sport goals of social development. We also suggest topics and ideas for future research and policy development related to SfD in Canada.