Sport holds promise to build a stronger Niagara. This promise stems from sport's ability to attract visitors to Niagara, to engage our families, and to increase the health and wellbeing of business and citizens alike. The promise of sport as an economic engine has been widely recognized across Canada and beyond. In 2006, sport's economic impact in Canada reached over $15 billion. Sport tourism, the fastest growing segment of the sport industry, generated over $2.8 billion in 2007 alone. To realize the promise of economic growth through sport, Niagara needs to leverage its existing tourism and sport infrastructure to bid for large, medium and small sporting events. Niagara needs to use our track record of hosting signature events, such as the Henley Regatta, the Niagara International Marathon, to create new events that use our geography, waterways, and extensive tourism infrastructure.

Using sport as an economic engine to create new jobs, to attract new business, and to secure Niagara as Ontario's most livable region, will take leadership, strategic planning, and political will. Securing Niagara's share of the sport tourism pie means not only attracting larger scale events such as the Pan Am or Canada Games, but it also means supporting local sport clubs in their efforts to bring regional, provincial and national championships to Niagara. We need a strategic plan for games hosting, one with a regional perspective that acknowledges the resources and needs of each community.

Importantly, using sport as a vehicle for economic growth means more than bringing athletes and coaches to Niagara. This region has the capacity to be a centre for sport medicine, to be a focus for innovation in volunteer training and development, and a place that fosters new businesses in sport marketing, sport event hosting, sport equipment businesses such as dragon boats manufacturing and sport research and development. This region already has the resources needed to rival other sport tourism destinations in Canada, yet we need a coordinated effort to attract sport events and to deliver superior experiences to our visitors.