On October 19th, vote for sport! Across BC, over 815,000 people participate in amateur sport, but we haven’t seen an increase to core funding sport since 2010. We need your help to meet the growing demand for safe and inclusive sport. Your voice matters; join us in voting for a provincial government who will help increase funding and make sport better and more accessible for all. 

Spread the word and add your voice to Sport BC’s Vote for Sport campaign today: sportbc.com/votingforsport2024/

There are numerous health, social, and economic benefits attributed to sport. It can be a generator of social capital, supporting societal goals such as child and youth development, crime prevention, economic development, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion. Sport has so much to offer – yet, much of its tremendous potential remains untapped.

We’re asking you to use your voice to talk to people in your community – candidates, neighbours and your friends about the important role sport plays in your life. We want to know that the parties and candidates who will form the next provincial government share our commitment to sport, and that they understand how inclusive and accessible sport creates healthy communities.

We’re not just here for the game—we’re here for community, health, wellness, and social inclusion. We are inviting you to join this campaign. Be a sport champion and use our activist toolkit,
which includes social posts, letters and additional resources. To access the toolkit, click here.

Please raise your voice for sport!

Frequently Asked Questions

Tell me about this campaign – Sport: for health, connection, and community:

This campaign is centered on the importance of sport in BC’s future. When we go out to vote on October 19, 2024, we want to know that the parties and candidates who will form the next provincial government share our commitment to sport, and understand how inclusive and accessible sport creates healthy communities. We are highlighting how sport is more than “just a game.” It can serve as a generator of social capital, creating benefits across a broad spectrum of societal goals including child and youth development, crime prevention, economic development, environmental sustainability, and social inclusion. Sport has so much to offer – yet, much of its tremendous potential remains untapped. Our campaign is pan partisan and we are approaching all candidates and asking them to make sport a priority.

Why sport?

More than 815,000 British Columbians participate in organized amateur sport and many others are physically active through recreation centres, other forms of organized sport, or physical activity. Sport is a hub for health, connection and community. With increased resources, we can improve our infrastructure and the quality of amateur sport experiences throughout the province. This in turn can protect public health, strengthen communities, improve social inclusion, reduce crime, decrease school drop-out rates, prevent and manage disease, and accelerate economic development, among so many other benefits.

Why now?

A collaborative effort is required to create sport opportunities that are accessible to all – and this necessitates support from our government. There hasn’t been an increase to core funding for amateur sport in BC since 2010. If inflation is about 2% annually, we now find ourselves in a place where we would need an additional 30% in funding to have the same buying power to support sport than we had 15 years ago. To benefit from sport, we all need the opportunity to get involved. This requires a greater investment to build new (and needed) facilities and increase accessibility. Our success is rooted in everyone having a place to experience safe, inclusive sport.

What are you asking for?

There hasn’t been an increase to core funding for amateur sport in BC since 2010. We are asking for BC’s next government to close the gap, by increasing core funding for sport, and committing to annual inflationary increases. Sport infrastructure is a shared community asset that requires collaboration and investment to build, maintain, and manage. We are also asking for commitment to a new investment of $500M over 5 years to build new facilities and increase accessibility?

How can we help?

We’re asking you to use your voice to talk to people in your community – candidates, neighbours and your friends about the important role sport plays in your life. We want to know that the parties and candidates who will form the next provincial government share our commitment to sport, and that they understand how inclusive and accessible sport creates healthy communities. We are inviting everyone to join our campaign and use our activist toolkit, which includes social posts, letters and additional resources, to lift up the conversation around why sport matters in BC. We’re not just here for the game—we’re here for community, health, wellness, and social inclusion, for the long-term!