New Canadian Safe Sport Program Rules in Effect as of April 1, 2025

This seventh installment of the Safe Sport series addresses the implementation and application of the new Canadian Safe Sport Program (CSSP) Rules for federally funded, national-level sport organizations. This is an important change, and we explain what’s new below.

Background

On May 2, 2024, the Minister of Sport and Physical Activity announced that the administration of the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sports (UCCMS) would transition from the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada’s (SDRCC) Abuse-Free Sport program to the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) as of April 1, 2025.

The previous installment on this topic described that the CSSP was in draft form, and the CCES sought feedback from the public until November 22, 2024. Since then, a second draft was released for feedback in December 2024. Following its consultation with the sport-community, the CCES published the CSSP Rules on January 17, 2025.

The CSSP Rules apply to federally funded Canadian sport organizations at the national level which includes national sport organizations, national multi-sport service organizations, and Canadian sport centres and institutes receiving funding from Sport Canada that have adopted the CSSP (collectively referred to as NSOs).

What’s New

On April 1, 2025, the CSSP Rules came into effect and the CCES will now independently administer the UCCMS.

All matters related to the UCCMS will move from the SDRCC to the CCES.

The UCCMS is incorporated by reference into the CSSP. Any amendments or modifications to the UCCMS shall apply automatically and come into effect immediately upon their adoption without the need for any further action by the CCES or any NSO.

In the event of a conflict between the CSSP Rules and the UCCMS, the CCSP Rules will prevail, except in respect of UCCMS Section 5 (Prohibited Behaviours) and the definitions of Prohibited Behaviours in the UCCMS, which shall prevail in the event of a conflict with the CSSP Rules.

Effective August 1, 2025, the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC) will close, and the CCES will take over full administration of the UCCMS.

Participants Under the CSSP

Previously, Provincial Sport Organizations (PSOs) had the ability to become program signatories to abuse-free sport. However, the CSSP will only apply to national, federally funded sport organizations – i.e., to NSOs, as defined above. This means that PSOs cannot sign on to the new program.

The CSSP applies to all participants in sport, defined as:

the board members and employees of a NSO;
any athlete that receives Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) support, is part of the NSOs national team program, or who is otherwise included in the NSOs National Athlete Pool (NAP);
any athlete support personnel under a NSOs authority who is directly involved with or provides services to a NSOs national team program;
any other individual who competes, participates, or is otherwise involves in a sport under the authority of a NSO that has adopted the CSSP; and
those designated by each NSO, and as authorized by the CCES, as Canadian officials, judges, umpires or referees accredited by a NSO who is involved in any international or national level competition held under the authority or governed by the rules of a NSO.

The Adoption Contract

Under the CSSP Rules, the CSSP must be expressly accepted by each NSO by way of a formal contract (the Adoption Contract). The Adoption Contract will integrate the CSSP into the rules and governing documents of each adopting NSO and render the CSSP binding on its participants.

Failure by a NSO to comply in all respects with the Adoption Contract may result in the NSO being deemed non-compliant with the CSSP. This non-compliance may result in the NSO being non-compliant with any requirements for continued funding by Sport Canada.

As part of the Adoption Contract, a NSO must ensure that every participant and any other individual subject to the CSSP agrees to a consent form, making them aware that they are subject to the CSSP and the CSSP Rules. Further, a NSO must ensure that its participants complete the CCES’s Safe Sport e-learning module.

The Wind-Down of Abuse-Free Sport Program

Effective April 1, 2025 until July 31, 2025, the CCES will begin handling reports and providing support services. OSIC (which previously administered the UCCMS as an independent division of the SDRCC) will stop accepting new reports, but will finish handling reports received before February 1, 2025.

Should any complainants from February 1, 2025 to March 31, 2025 choose to pursue their report on or after April 1, 2025, the report information will be shared with and reviewed by the CCES. Any cases that are unresolved by the end of this period, that cannot be resolved by OSIC, will have their eligibility determined under the new program.

Key Takeaway

On April 1, 2025, the CSSP Rules took effect and imposed new rules requirements upon NSOs and their participants. Accordingly, NSOs should ensure compliance with the new rules to ensure continued funding from Sport Canada, and should also consider whether any updates are required to existing complaint and discipline management process policies and procedures.

PSOs who were program signatories of the previous Abuse-Free Sport program should consider the transition to another complaint and discipline management process and ensure their policies and procedures are up-to-date to reflect the new procedure implemented – e.g. either an internal process or external third-party provider.

For any questions about the CSSP Rules, please contact Brittany Bates at 416.864.7058, Frank Cesario at 416.864.7355 or Kayley C . Leon at 416.864.7028.

The authors thank Matthew Wronko, a 2024/2025 articling student, for his assistance with this article.

The article in this client update provides general information and should not be relied on as legal advice or opinion. This publication is copyrighted by Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP and may not be photocopied or reproduced in any form, in whole or in part, without the express permission of Hicks Morley Hamilton Stewart Storie LLP. ©

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