An exploration of Canadian multisport service organizations’ response to healthy living mandate: integrating institutional and archetype theories

Sport’s social context has become increasingly marked by concerns for sedentary lifestyles and subsequent health issues. The current Canadian Sport Policy 2012 acknowledges this problematic rate of sedentary living across Canada and as such, mandates sport promotion and healthy living outcomes. This study seeks to understand how sport organisations are incorporating healthy living into their agendas as per their policy mandate. More specifically, this study explores (1) sources of health-related institutional pressures for Canadian Multisport Service Organizations (MSO); (2) how Canadian MSOs are responding to health-related institutional pressures; (3) and the different organisational forms that may shape MSOs’ responses. We capitalise on both institutional and archetype theories to create a robust approach to examine response dynamics within the MSO environment. Core data sources included policies, reports, e-survey data, and MSO organisational documents. Our findings show that regulative (from legal, political, and financial sectors), normative (social sector), and internal organisational pressures were all observed to mandate and/or expect sport organisations to contribute to health outcomes. MSO responses were heterogeneous, with defiance being the most frequently observed response. Findings further suggest that a scattered allocation of MSOs across Canadian Sport Policy (2012) objectives and system-level structural and financial mechanisms may have impacted organisational capacity to comply with institutional pressures.