There are numerous articles and studies available online describing the health and social benefits of participation in sport. The following sources are particularly helpful:

The Benefits of Parks and Recreation. The catalogue of The Benefits of Parks and Recreation produced in 1992 by Parks and Recreation Ontario is distributed by Canadian Parks and Recreation Association. The catalogue summarizes the benefits of recreation and parks and provides an overview of research evidence backing up each of the benefit statements. The Alberta Parks and Recreation Association (ARPA) has recently launched an online Benefits DataBank that summarizes research findings of over 700 studies surrounding the benefits of participating in parks and recreation activities and sport.

Strengthening Canada: The Socio-economic Benefits of Sport Participation in Canada by Michael Bloom, Michael Grant and Douglas Watt. This 2005 report from The Conference Board of Canada outlines the socioeconomic benefits of participation in sport for federal, provincial and territorial governments to better understand its economic and social importance. The report examines the impacts and benefits of sport participation on individuals and communities. It finds that sport participation has important benefits related to health, skills development, social cohesion and economic performance.

Sport Participation in Canada, 2005. This report prepared by statistics Canada and published in February 2008 looks at sport participation by Canadians. It is based mainly o