The annual costs of participation in the Sport-études programs in Quebec

Abstract

In Canada, organized sports practice for youth is influenced by households’ socioeconomic status. However, few studies have examined the socioeconomic accessibility to competitive youth sport. The purpose of this study was to identify the annual costs of participation in the Sport-études programs in Quebec and to situate them with reference to disposable income and leisure spending of Quebec households. Employing a telephone survey, information was collected from 77% of the 580 available programs (N = 448). Programs costing between $2000 and $4999 represented 51.6% of all programs, and programs costing $5000 or more represented 38.9% of all programs. When examined with reference to household disposable income and leisure spending, the cost of participation in Sport-études programs likely exerts financial pressure on some households and renders the programs inaccessible for others.