OLY

The OLY Canada Commission

The OLY Canada Commission is the National Olympian Association of Canada fully supported and in partnership with the COC aiming to spread the spirit of Olympism throughout our country. In 2021, Canada restructured the formal Olympians Canada to become the OLY Canada Commission as the new National Olympians Association of Canada.  This Commission is integrated into the COC to represent the voices of Legacy Olympians and represent Canada within the World Olympians Association. The commission aims to provide insight from the perspective of distinguished Olympians regarding various COC OLY Legacy programs with the objectives listed below.

1. 1. 1. To provide input to the COC on matters relating to Canadian OLYs; 
      2. To unite and grow the community of Canadian OLYs; 
      3. To promote and support the Olympic movement both in Canada and internationally;

The full Terms of Reference can be found here.

Current members:

• • • Claire Carver-Dias OLY (elected Chair with voting rights)
    • David Calder OLY (elected vice-chair with voting rights)
    • Christine Nesbitt OLY (elected member with voting rights)
    • Mercedes Nichols OLY (appointed member with voting rights)
    • Sandra Sassine OLY (appointed member with no voting rights)

ELECTION DETAILS AND MEMBERS

The Commission and Team Canada Olympians shall be electing two (2) new members this Fall, which shall take place in the following way:

• • One (1) Commission members will be elected in each of the following classes of Retired Team Canada Olympians;
    • Team Canada Olympians who have retired from sport and have competed in an Olympic Games in the last ten (10) years;
    • Team Canada Olympians who have retired from sport and have not competed in the Olympic Games for a minimum of ten (10) years.

The Term for Elected Members shall be four (4) years.

APPLICATION AND ELECTION

All applications must be submitted using the Application Form by no later than Sunday, Oct 29, 2023, by 23:59 Eastern Time. Once the applications are collected, we will provide all Olympians with the opportunity to vote for their candidate of choice virtually, in November 2023. 

ELIGIBILITY

Membership in the Commission is conditional upon confirmation of all of the following:

• • • Being a Team Canada Olympian;

    • Being at least 18 years old;

    • Not being under sanction of two (2) years or greater pursuant to a breach of the World Anti-Doping Code or the CADP Rules;

    • Not have been convicted of a serious criminal offence for which a Pardon has not been granted; and

    • Not have been sanctioned for a breach of COC Policy Statement and Guidelines on Conduct or of the Universal Code of Conduct for Canadian sport.

Deadline: October 29th, 2023

RECOGNITION

OLY Canada Commission and the COC would like to recognize the work and time of three past members:

“For years, Charmaine Crooks OLY and Chris Farstad OLY, have worked tirelessly to build the Canadian Olympians’ network. They have dedicated their ideas and time to these efforts, from the very first reunions to the formalization of the commission in 2019. We owe a huge debt of gratitude to these two trailblazers for everything they’ve done to lay the foundation for a successful OLY Canada Commission.” Claire Carver-Dias OLY, Chair, OLY Canada Commision

A special thank you to OLY CANADA identity creators – 2008 Olympians Olya Ovtchinnikova OLY (past member of the OLY Canada Commission and former COC Staff) & Marie-Eve Marleau OLY (former COC Staff) 

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to reach out to the OLY Canada team at oly@olympic.ca.

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