Benefits of Collaboration

Sport and recreation councils are mechanisms to encourage greater cooperation and collaboration among groups in the sectors of sport, recreation, health, education, and municipal government. Their development has been encouraged by municipal councils, appointed recreation advisory committees, staff, or tourism authorities to provide a collective voice for sport and recreation in a community. They are intended to break down barriers between activity groups, serve as a liaison on sport and recreation issues, and support joint advocacy regarding sport and recreation needs.

Some sport and recreation councils focus solely on promoting and advocating for sport and recreation in their communities, while others may execute an event hosting and economic development mandate as part of a larger sport tourism and economic development strategy in their respective community. Recently there has been a trend of established sport councils redefining their mandates to focus on building cross-sectoral collaborative partnerships between sport, recreation, health and education stakeholders. With continuous communication and enhanced collaboration, stakeholders are able to plan and allocate resources more effectively to enhance access to quality sport and recreation experiences for everyone in the community.

Benefits of a sport and recreation council include:

A common voice for sport and recreation in the community
Improved input for facilities development
Improved input and cooperation around facilities management
Enhanced input and cooperation around facilities programming
Increased opportunities for optimal use of resources
Increased awareness and support between community organizations and providers of sport and recreation
Growth of an active community
Increased ability to promote sport and recreation at every level of government
Increased credibility at the political level
A place for the sport and recreation community to develop consensus solutions and strategies
A single point of contact for sport and recreation in the community for all organizations