What Is the Most Popular Sport in Canada? Top Sports in 2026

Canada’s sporting culture includes more than its best-known winter game. Local clubs, school teams, professional franchises and national sides create different kinds of sporting connection, while seasons and available facilities shape what people can try.

So the answer to “most popular” needs a clear measure. This guide looks at a recent favourite-to-watch poll and a separate participation survey, then introduces eight sports with distinctive places in Canadian life.

What Is the Most Popular Sport in Canada?

Ice hockey has the clearest claim when discussing favourite sports to watch in the evidence used here. A July 2026 Léger survey for the Association for Canadian Studies (PDF) found that 36% of respondents chose hockey as their favourite sport to watch over the year, the leading response in its total column.

Fieldwork ran from 10–12 July 2026 with 1,505 respondents in Canada. It was a panel survey, not a probability sample, so the report says a conventional sampling margin of error does not apply. This is evidence about preference, rather than a count of television viewers or hockey players.

What Sports Do Canadians Actually Play?

The 2024 Léger report for Canadian Heritage surveyed adults aged 18+ from 14 February to 5 March 2024. Figure 17 asks 2,965 respondents who had participated in sport in the previous 12 months for up to three sports they currently played most often.

This was a weighted online panel. The report cautions against generalising its percentages to all Canadians. Multiple answers overlap; these are selected responses, not all-population participation rates.

The eight profiles are an editorial introduction rather than a popularity ranking. Alongside the survey entries above, explore Canadian football, curling and lacrosse.

1. Ice Hockey

Ice hockey connects community rinks, minor and recreational hockey with professional and international competition. Its sporting life includes women’s and men’s teams, volunteers, coaches and officials as well as the players seen on major broadcasts.

A key organisational milestone came on 4 December 1914, when hockey executives met at the Château Laurier in Ottawa and formed the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association. Hockey Canada’s historical account describes that meeting and the national structure it helped establish.

For viewers, the NHL and the Professional Women’s Hockey League offer different competitions to follow. The PWHL has teams in both Canada and the United States, so a league-wide audience or player count would need a geography check before being called a Canadian total.

2. Soccer

Soccer has a long Canadian history through local clubs, national teams and domestic competition. The Canada Soccer timeline records the founding of the Dominion of Canada Football Association on 24 May 1912, followed by its first annual meeting in Winnipeg that July.

That history helps place the sport beyond a single World Cup or a particular generation of players. Women’s and men’s national teams offer an international connection, while playing for a local team creates a different experience of the same game.

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3. Basketball

Basketball connects school gyms, public courts and community clubs with professional and national-team competition. A recreational player and a supporter of an elite team may engage with the sport in very different ways.

The Toronto Raptors won their first NBA championship in 2019.

School, club and national-team competition provide further connections beyond the professional franchise.

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4. Canadian Football

Canadian football has its own code and competition history. The Canadian Football League provides a different sporting tradition from the NFL, even though many Canadian supporters also follow American football.

The CFL’s official historical guide (PDF) dates the league’s formation to 19 January 1958, when the eastern and western unions came together under one governing body. The clubs and competitions that preceded it give the game a longer history than the CFL name alone.

Scoring, possession and the competition’s own rulebook are useful starting points when learning to watch Canadian football.

5. Baseball

Baseball combines local and youth competition with a professional following. Canadian baseball history includes both the Montreal Expos and Toronto Blue Jays, alongside a much wider network of teams and playing opportunities.

The Blue Jays became the first team based outside the United States to win the World Series in 1992, then repeated the achievement in 1993. The National Baseball Hall of Fame’s account of those championships places both seasons in the club’s history.

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6. Curling

Curling’s club setting gives it a distinctive place in Canadian sport. The game brings together delivery, sweeping and tactical choices, with team communication central to how a contest unfolds.

Curling Canada’s official Brier archive records the 1927 tournament in Toronto, held from 1–3 March. Its archive also includes women’s national championships, allowing readers to explore the history of separate competitions within the wider game.

For a beginner, understanding an end and how the stones are scored is a useful foundation before trying to interpret the tactical decisions behind a shot.

7. Lacrosse

Lacrosse’s Canadian story begins with the Indigenous Peoples of North America, long before modern clubs or national sporting organisations. Lacrosse Canada’s history emphasises the game’s cultural and ceremonial significance alongside its development as organised competition.

The sport has several formats, including field and box lacrosse. Those formats should be identified when comparing teams, rules and participation figures, rather than treating every version as interchangeable.

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8. Tennis

Tennis offers local singles and doubles alongside professional tournaments and national-team competition. Public courts and clubs provide a different route into the game from following a major tournament on television.

Tennis Canada was founded in 1890. Its work includes player development, the National Bank Open events and national teams, with wheelchair tennis among the programmes it supports.

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Other Sports and Activities

Golf, volleyball, swimming, badminton, cycling and running add to Canada’s sporting picture, alongside skiing, snowboarding and other winter activities. The choice of what to try will also depend on local facilities and the season. Browse the sports encyclopaedia or beginner guides to explore another game.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Canada have one official national sport?

Canada recognises two seasonal national sports. The National Sports of Canada Act, enacted in 1994, designates ice hockey as the national winter sport and lacrosse as the national summer sport. Those designations are separate from survey rankings.

Are the participation percentages shares of all Canadians?

No. They describe this survey’s sport-participant subgroup. Cross-country comparisons require matching questions and populations.

Where can I learn the rules before following a team?

Start with Learn Sports or follow the sport-guide links above. Check the relevant competition’s own official rules for the season you are following.

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