Soccer Initiative

Building Access to Soccer, One Community at a Time

Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities is launching a national initiative to build 25 community soccer pitches across Canada. The goal is to increase sport participation among children and youth, with a focus on communities facing the greatest barriers to access.

Community-Designed. Participation-Focused.

Each pitch is delivered through four phases: Design, Build, Launch, and Long-Term Stewardship. This approach ensures that infrastructure investment drives sustained participation, not just construction.

From the start, local residents, grassroots organizations, schools, and municipal partners co-design every space. These pitches support both spontaneous play and structured programming, grounded in real community needs and built to close participation gaps.

Built to Last

Every project includes formal agreements guaranteeing free public access and long-term community use, supported by local partners who deliver consistent programming year over year.

The result is more than infrastructure, these are living community assets where kids can play, belong, and thrive long after the final whistle.

Why Soccer? Why Now?

According to the State of Youth Sports in Canada 2025 report, soccer's rise isn't happening at the elite level, it's happening in neighbourhoods. Accessible programming, moderate costs, and broad appeal have made soccer the number one youth sport in Canada.

Le soccer se classe premier dans les quatre régions d’un océan à l’autre, tant dans la catégorie des sports libres que dans celle des sports structurés.
50 % des jeunes jouent au soccer.
Plus précisément dans la catégorie des sports structurés, le soccer domine dans une proportion de 39 %.

When we invest in the right spaces and design them with the people who will use them, we unlock participation and open lasting pathways into sport for kids.

This initiative turns the momentum around soccer into real, local access for children and youth, right where they live.

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Communiqué de presse

Canadian Tire Jumpstart Charities Launches National Initiative to Build 25 New Community Soccer Pitches Across Canada

May 21, 2026

New program aims to expand free access to Canada’s most-played youth sport and create lasting spaces for connection, play and belonging.