JANUARY 3, 2023, VANCOUNVER – Canada Snowboard and its stakeholders at a national level, including all Canada Snowboard employees, contractors, Board of Directors and Committee Members as well as National Team athletes, coaches, support staff, will have access to the services of the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC), which serves as the central hub of Abuse-Free Sport, as of 31 December 2022. 

Canada Snowboard has completed full adoption of the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS), and made the required policy changes.

“Canada Snowboard recognizes that safe sport is everyone’s responsibility and is a life long and unrelenting commitment. As part of that commitment, we’re pleased to sign on to Abuse-Free Sport and to soon have the OSIC to administer safe sport complaints in relation to alleged breaches of the UCCMS by its UCCMS Participants” Dustin Heise, CEO, Canada Snowboard said. “Although not Canada Snowboard’s first step in this vital movement towards creating a safe environment and reporting system for our snowboard community, we and the greater sport community, see great value in a program like this and have been asking for just this kind of consistent national independent program. It is a critical step forward for everyone involved in sport in Canada.” 

As of 31 December 2022, Canada Snowboard in alignment with our Provincial / Territorial Snowboard Associations (PTSAs) will continue to offer Canada Snowboard /  PTSA members, who have experienced or witnessed abuse, access to an independent third-party services to report concerns which fall outside of the UCCMS / Abuse-Free Sport Program. This can be accessed through Brian Ward, safesport_wwdrs@primus.ca, (613-761-8469).

You can find more information about the Abuse-Free Sport program HERE, on the OSIC HERE, and on Canada Snowboard’s Safe Sport page.

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MEDIA CONTACT

Rich Hegarty
Director, Communications and Major Events
rich.hergarty@canadasnowboard.ca