Ottawa – April 1, 2025 – Starting today, the Canadian Safe Sport Program (CSSP) is the new place to report concerns of maltreatment involving participants who are part of national, federally funded sport organizations. The program supports everyone’s right to train and compete in safe, respectful, and supportive environments.
The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) administers the program independently, which involves enforcing the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS) through the CSSP Rules.
The CSSP Rules
The CSSP Rules, a critical component to our overall safe sport program, were developed following several rounds of extensive consultation with external experts and researchers across sport, law, trauma-informed, regulatory, disability, human rights, gender equality, sexual violence, intersectionality, and social and racial justice practices. Meetings with advocacy groups and athletes’ councils, six separate public consultations, individual discussions, and email submissions afforded the opportunity to hear directly from those who these rules will serve and impact.
Reporting and Support Services
The CCES will accept reports through an online report form and by phone – both methods allow for anonymous reporting. Everyone connecting with our team will be treated with respect, dignity, and compassion. The CSSP follows a trauma–informed practice as a foundation for all correspondence and interactions with those intersecting with the program.
For information about how to report and the support services that are available, visit the new safe sport section of the CCES website.
Our Team
The CSSP team currently includes 15 full-time CCES staff members across four departments: Intake and Assessments, Investigations, Support Services, and Program Quality and Policy. Together, the leadership within these areas has a combined 75 years of experience working in maltreatment with families, victims, and survivors, using trauma-informed processes, and managing various reporting mechanisms.
Education and Prevention
An essential component of the CSSP will focus on education and prevention to ensure we can inform participants about the CSSP Rules, provide innovative and effective education tools and resources, and ultimately address the root causes of maltreatment in sport. A fifth department, focused on education and prevention specific to maltreatment, will get underway later this year. We look forward to consulting with the sport community throughout on these initiatives.
Abuse-Free Sport Program
As the Abuse-Free Sport Program comes to an end, we would like to recognize the work of the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada and the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner over the past three years in establishing Canada’s initial centralized response to address maltreatment at the national level.
We want to hear from you
Consultation was invaluable in creating this program, and we hope the sport community sees its feedback reflected in the CSSP Rules and our processes. Continued input will be critical as we learn and evolve the program to meet the community’s needs and contribute to positive cultural change.
To connect with the CSSP team, email safesport@cces.ca or call 1-833-858-CSSP (2777).
About the CCES
The CCES is an independent, national, not-for profit organization that works to protect the integrity of and manage unethical issues in Canadian sport. Through the administration of its programs, including the Canadian Anti-Doping Program and the Canadian Safe Sport Program, the CCES strives to ensure sport is fair, safe, accessible, and inclusive for all Canadians. The CCES acknowledges funding, in part, from the Government of Canada. For more information, visit cces.ca, follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, or X (Twitter).
For further information, please contact:
+1 613-521-3340 x3233
communications@cces.ca