The Landscape of Volunteerism in Sport and Recreation

A rich picture of systemic conditions that create volunteer experiences in Canada

The following charts depict different aspects of volunteering in a variety of organizational and activity settings in Canada. Taken together, they present a rich picture of volunteerism in Sport and Recreation. The existing body of research regarding sport volunteers extensively investigates volunteer motivations, sacrifices, retention and satisfaction. The content of our rich picture is drawn primarily from "The State of Volunteering in Sport," a 2025 literature review of this research conducted by Ashley Penney on behalf of The Scott McCain & Leslie McLean Centre for Sport, Business, and Health at Saint Mary's University. Other sources are cited and linked throughout.

Each chart presents key information on a theme or question about volunteerism in sport and recreation. The rich picture they create will continue to evolve through the course of our research as we co-create deeper and broader understanding of volunteerism through interviews, a survey, co-design sprints and field prototyping of new ways of making volunteer experiences more sustainable for volunteers and the organizations they support.

Themes explored