ABSTRACT
The sport system in Canada has many elements (see Figure 11.1). On one level, there are the millions of individuals involved in sport – recreational participants, athletes, coaches, leaders, officials, administrators, and others – some of whom are paid, but many more play purely for the love of the game or volunteer their time and expertise. There are the communities where sporting events take place. There are the institutions and organisations with roles in the sport system, some single-sport (like Basketball Canada), others multi-sport (like the Coaching Association of Canada), some at the national level, others at the provincial/territorial or local level. These organisations receive financial support from governments according to the scope of their programmes and services. Finally, there are the corporate sector enterprises who also sponsor sport and sport events (Canadian Heritage 2001).
