
60% of Canadians say perception of women's sport has improved over 3 years: report
A new report says 60 per cent of Canadians believe perceptions of women's sport have improved over the past three years.
The study also found 80 per cent of men consider themselves fans of women's sport.
However, the report found that over 30 per cent of fans still say investment is lacking across media, sponsorship, and policy.
Commissioned by Torque Strategies, in partnership with IMI, the report was presented at the espnW Conference at Toronto's Evergreen Brick Works on Wednesday morning.
It also found 41 per cent of Canadians see women's sports as a national investment.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


National Post
15 minutes ago
- National Post
Security and defence high on the agenda as Mark Carney attends EU and NATO summits
Article content At the NATO summit, Carney will take part in bilateral meetings with other leaders. The summit agenda includes a social dinner hosted by the king and queen of the Netherlands and a two-and-a-half-hour meeting of the North Atlantic Council. Article content NATO allies are expected to debate a plan to hike alliance members' defence spending target to five per cent of national GDP. NATO data shows that in 2024, none of its 32 members spent that much. Article content The Canadian government official who briefed reporters on background says the spending target and its timeline are still up for discussion, though some allies have indicated they would prefer a seven-year timeline while others favour a decade. Article content Canada hasn't hit a five-per-cent defence spending threshold since the 1950s and hasn't reached the two per cent mark since the late 1980s. Article content NATO says that, based on its estimate of which expenditures count toward the target, Canada spent $41 billion in 2024 on defence, or 1.37 per cent of GDP. That's more than twice what it spent in 2014, when the two per cent target was first set; that year, Canada spent $20.1 billion, or 1.01 per cent of GDP, on defence. Article content Article content In 2014, only three NATO members achieved the two per cent target — the U.S., the U.K., and Greece. In 2025, all members are expected to hit it. Article content Any agreement to adopt a new spending benchmark must be ratified by all 32 NATO member states. Article content Former Canadian ambassador to NATO Kerry Buck told The Canadian Press the condensed agenda is likely meant to 'avoid public rifts among allies,' describing Trump as an 'uncertainty engine.' Article content 'The national security environment has really, really shifted,' Buck said, adding allies next door to Russia face the greatest threats. 'There is a high risk that the U.S. would undercut NATO at a time where all allies are increasingly vulnerable.' Article content Trump has suggested the U.S. might abandon its mutual defence commitment to the alliance if member countries don't ramp up defence spending. Article content 'Whatever we can do to get through this NATO summit with few public rifts between the U.S. and other allies on anything, and satisfy a very long-standing U.S. demand to rebalance defence spending, that will be good for Canada because NATO's good for Canada,' Buck said. Article content Carney has already made two trips to Europe this year — the first to London and Paris to meet with European allies and the second to Rome to attend the inaugural mass of Pope Leo XIV. Article content


CTV News
36 minutes ago
- CTV News
Top stories of the week: wage theft fine, vending machine concerns, and police nab motorcyclist
Dutchie's Fresh Market and its business director, Michael Renkema, have been sentenced after more than a year of allegations, protests, orders to pay and court delays. Renkema pleaded guilty to 13 counts of wage theft under the Employment Standards Act in December 2024. On June 20, 2025, a joint submission was filed by the Crown and lawyer for Dutchie's and Renkema. It recommended a $25,000 fine for Dutchie's as a corporation and an additional $7,500 for Renkema alone. Justice Michael Cuthbertson agreed with that sentence. He also decided Renkema and Dutchie's would not have to pay any additional victim surcharges. According to Renkema's lawyer, Rachel Goldenberg, the 13 former employees involved in the case have now been paid. She said more than $10,000 in fees also went to the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Finance. Goldenberg then asked the judge to give Renkema 20 months to pay off the fines. Justice Cuthbertson agreed. Two victim impact statements were read in court before the sentencing. One was from a former employee who said he had recently moved to Canada. 'When the payment delays began, I felt betrayed and exploited. I made several efforts to address the situation, sending emails and messages explaining the difficulties I was facing, but no resolution was provided,' the statement read. Renkema sent CTV News a statement on the day the sentence was delivered. 'We are deeply sorry for the lengthy process and burden this has been for all involved, especially the employees. Though the Gateway [Kitchener] location sustained losses in the millions, primarily due to poor workmanship of the refrigeration contractor, we understand we have obligations to our employees and our suppliers. It is our goal to continue to honor these obligations. We do thank customers who have supported us in honoring this goal. We will do better as we rebuild.' dutchie's fresh food market kitchener grocery A Dutchie's Fresh Food Market store in Kitchener, Ont. on March 14, 2024. (Dan Lauckner/CTV Kitchener) Ontario's privacy watchdog is sharing new insight on the investigation into the so-called smart vending machines that collected the personal data of users at the University of Waterloo. '[They] went over and above what you needed to sell snacks,' the privacy commissioner told CTV News. Those machines should have never been installed, she said, if the school had followed proper procedures. Students were alarmed last year when they saw an error message displayed on a machine in the Modern Languages building that read: ' – Application Error.' They filed a formal complaint with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner of Ontario (IPC) in Feb. 2024 Ontario's privacy commissioner spoke exclusively with CTV News about the investigation. Patricia Kosseim said the 'over-collection' of personal information was concerning. The University of Waterloo, the privacy commissioner added, was not the only school to use the vending machines. 'We've gotten a lot of emails from people that have seen them all over the province.' For Kosseim, the problem started before the contract was signed for the smart vending machines. 'Had they had proper due diligence in the course of their procurement practice… they would have probably twigged onto the fact that there was technology behind them, smart technology, that should have prompted the university to conduct a privacy impact assessment and then, unpack all of these features which would have given them the choice, the option, to say, 'No, you can't do this.'' She said the IPC's investigation should serve as a warning to other schools. smart intelligent vending machine uw university of waterloo Intelligent Vending Machines (IVMs) after being removed from the University of Waterloo. (Source: UW) It's the end of an era for a motorcycle dealership in Cambridge. Blackbridge Harley Davidson on Holiday Inn Drive is closing down for good at the end of June. The business, formerly the Kitchener Harley Davidson on Kingsway Drive, changed hands in 2019 but remained one of the few independent dealerships. 'This was a really difficult decision for our ownership group to make,' said Blackbridge General Manager Erin Mitchell. 'At the end of the day, this is a luxury brand and times are hard. It's really hard to make that investment at the same levels that we had coming out of Covid, and previous economic conditions.' Citing financial pressures, the Blackbridge team opted to divest from Harley Davidson. The dealership had been a one-stop shop for the company's merchandise, parts and services. 'There's such a beautiful brotherhood or sisterhood, of familiarity to being a rider, regardless of your age, gender, ethnicity or experience level,' Mitchell added. The business will operate on an appointment-only basis until they officially close up shop on June 30. Rocky's Harley Davidson, on Wilton Grove Road in London, will also be shutting down at the end of the month. This year marked its 70th anniversary in the business. Blackbridge Harley-Davidson Blackbridge Harley-Davidson drops off rental motorcycles for Jason Momoa (Facebook: Blackbridge Harley-Davidson) A driver is facing a flood of charges after being pulled over by the Ontario Provincial Police in Wellington County. Police stopped the pickup truck, which was hauling a boat, on June 14. The driver was charged with operating with a defective braking system, operating a motor vehicle without insurance, driving without a licence, driving without a muffler, possessing unmarked cigarettes, failure to surrender a permit for a trailer, failure to surrender a permit for a motor vehicle, driving a motor vehicle without a validated permit and operating a vehicle with emission control equipment not in compliance with regulations. Traffic stop Wellington OPP June 14, 2025 A white truck hauling a boat was pictured during a traffic stop on June 14, 2025. (Courtesy: Ontario Provincial Police) A motorcyclist last seen wearing a 'come get me' sweater has been arrested by Guelph Police. On May 29, an officer spotted a bike with no licence plate being driven erratically on Stone Road West and Edinburgh Road South. Police pulled up beside the motorcycle at a red light and told the rider to pull over. Instead, he took off. Police said he was going approximately 120 km/h on Stone Road and, in the interest of public safety, they stopped their pursuit. They then turned to social media to find the motorcyclist. Police noted he was wearing a sweater with 'come get me' written across the back. That post, they said, was viewed 575,000 times and several tips were reported, which led to the identification of the rider. On June 13, a 20-year-old Guelph man was arrested and charged with dangerous driving, flight from police, stunt driving and offences under the Highway Traffic Act. He also received a 30-day suspension and his motorcycle was seized for 14 days. Some parts of the bike, police added, had been wrapped in red 'in an apparent attempt to avoid detection.' 'Consider him 'got,'' the release from Guelph Police said.


CBC
42 minutes ago
- CBC
Camryn Rogers wins women's hammer throw for 2nd Kuortane Games title in 3 years
Camryn Rogers continued her unbeaten week and winning season on Saturday. The Canadian hammer thrower captured the women's event in Finland, defeating her friends and Finnish teammates Krista Tervo and Silja Kosonen at the 86th Kuortane Games. Rogers, the reigning world and Olympic champion, threw 76.45 metres at Kuortane Central Sports Field to edge Tervo (76.98) for her fourth victory in five competitions this outdoor season. Kosonen was third (72.90). Rogers fell 12 centimetres shy of matching her stadium record set two years ago in a victory over Kosonen at the World Athletics Continental Tour Bronze track and field meet. The 26-year-old Rogers fouled on her first of six attempts Sunday but rebounded with her best throw on her next try. She also didn't record a distance on her fifth attempt. On Tuesday, the Richmond, B.C., athlete prevailed despite three fouls with a 74.59m top throw at the 68th Paavo Nurmi Games in Turku, about 315 kilometres south of Kuortane, where she beat Kosonen (second) and Tervo (ninth). Rogers will return to Canada to prepare for the Prefontaine Classic Diamond League event on July 5 in Eugene, Ore. She has a best throw of 78.14 this season and 78.62 personal best. Rogers won an Olympic gold medal last Aug. 6 in Paris after securing her first world championship title in 2023 after silver the previous year. WATCH | Rogers takes women's hammer throw at 68th Paavo Nurmi Games: B.C.'s Camryn Rogers places 1st in women's hammer throw competition in Turku 5 days ago Duration 0:33 The Richmond, B.C. native scored 75.59-metres on her 5th throw to clinch the women's hammer throw competition at the World Athletics Continental Tour meet in Turku, Finland. For more information on athletics events streaming live on CBC Sports this season, click here to see the full broadcast schedule.