When it comes to the atmosphere around the 2025 Canada Games in St. John’s, there’s only room for one type of attitude: Good Vibes Only.
That’s not just a catchphrase, it’s the title of the organization’s safe sport awareness campaign.
Canada Games president and CEO Kelly-Ann Paul said ‘Good Vibes Only’ is part of her team’s effort to change how people view safe sport policy, which is about creating a playing field free of harassment, abuse and discrimination.
“[With] safe sports, there’s a lot of negative connotation about where things have come from, right? You know, ‘don’t do this. You can’t say that. No more harassment, no more bullying, no more bad language. No more hazing.’,” Paul said.
“There’s been a lot of, ‘don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t, don’t,’ and not a lot of explanation of what to do, how to treat people, how sports should feel.”
The Good Vibes Only campaign includes video messaging that encourages people to speak up for safe sport. The first video features prominent Canada Games alumni Kylie Masse, Charles Hamelin, Allison Forsyth and Woody Belfort.
Paul said the Canada Games Council has been working with Generation Safe — a safe sport education organization started by Olympic alpine skier Forsyth, who became an advocate after living through her own sexual abuse in the sport system.
“To have an impact, we have to call out maltreatment when we see it,” Forsyth said in a statement. “Canada Games participants are at a key stage in their development and athletic journeys, and this campaign will elevate their awareness about maltreatment in sport. As a community — athletes, parents, coaches, officials and administrators — we loudly need to expect better and rally together to keep sport safe for all.”
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Thanks to project funding from the federal government and Canadian Olympic Committee, Paul said they’re working to “flip the tone” about safe sport. That means using positive messaging to reach a new generation of athletes at the Canada Games.
“The Good Vibes Only campaign is exactly meant to explain to these 5,000-plus [athletes and coaches] about how sports should feel, how it should look, how it should feel safe,” Paul said.
The messaging will be impossible to miss for anyone competing at, attending or following the 2025 Canada Games online. Paul said campaign videos have been posted to the Canada Games social media channels, and snippets will be played in-venue during competition and during both opening and closing ceremonies.
There is also a version that focuses on what role fans play in creating a safe sport environment. The video features Canada Games alumni Élodie Tessier and Shanice Marcelle, Canada Games Future Official Jake Wiseman, and the parents of Canada Games alum Audrey Leduc.
“We’ve been fortunate to receive additional funding from the Canadian Olympic Committee and Government of Canada … to build a more tailored message directly to parents and spectators about ‘Good Vibes Only’ and what it means when you’re in the stands,” Paul said.
Along with a training program for every volunteer at the Canada Games, efforts also included simplifying what had been a confusing and difficult process to submit a complaint.
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“If there does end up being a safe sport complaint, where to go is very complicated, so we’ve built a website that helps direct the complainant to the right mechanism to launch a complaint,” Paul said.
The step-by-step process offers complainants options on who the complaint is about and will direct them on who specifically to contact to address their concerns.
The Canada Games Host Society CEO, Karen Sherriffs, said that St. John’s 2025 was committed to creating the right environment for athletes to flourish, and that ‘Good Vibes Only’ is all about safety, respect and inclusion.
“This campaign is about more than just words, it’s a call to action. We want every participant, from athletes to volunteers, to feel supported, valued, and empowered to speak up,” Sherriffs said in a statement. “Together, we’re building an environment where only good vibes thrive at the Games and long after.”
Paul said the hope is that this campaign will reach more than those at the 2025 Games, and that the ‘good vibes’ will carry on for years to come.
“I have to commend the leadership with 2025 for really having committed to the cause, which is using our platform and our potential to build the right type of programming for the ’25 Games and also for beyond,” Paul said. “Our hope is what we’ve built is evergreen and will be carried through 2027 in Quebec, in 2029 in New Brunswick, and so on.”
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