The CCES Seeks Your Views on a Revised Canadian Anti-Doping Program

(Ottawa, Ontario – January 30, 2020) – A new World Anti-Doping Code was approved last fall by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and goes into effect on January 1, 2021. The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) ensures that the Canadian Anti-Doping Program (CADP) complies with the Code. This is a requirement for membership in international sport federations and competition at major games.

The CCES needs to hear from you.

While the Code lays out strict rules to deter, detect and sanction doping in sport, WADA does allow for some flexibility in how the Code is implemented. Between now and October 1, 2020, you will have several opportunities to shape important parts of the 2021 CADP. The CCES is looking for your thoughts and ideas to ensure that implementation for Canadian sport serves the best interests of athletes, coaches, sport organizations and the broader sport system.

AthletesCAN will play a central role in CADP consultations.

To meet the needs and expectations of Canadian athletes, the CCES will partner with AthletesCAN to design and deliver consultation activities over the next several months, including a dedicated focus group session with national team athletes and a one-day national symposium for athletes and sport leaders in Ottawa on May 6, 2020 (details will be available soon).

Use this opportunity to make the CADP better.

We’re interested in your perspective on the CADP as a whole: What’s working well? How can it better serve the needs of athletes and sport organizations?

The consultation process will be your opportunity to help us figure out how to incorporate some new provisions from the 2021 Code that have the potential to impact the anti-doping landscape in Canada, such as:

  • A new Athletes’ Anti-Doping Rights Act. Developed through consultation with athletes from around the world, the Act spells out 14 specific rights including equality of opportunity, fair testing programs and the right to justice, accountability, education and whistleblower mechanisms. An additional three recommended rights are proposed, including the right to legal aid.
  • New Education Standard. All code signatories will be required to plan, implement and evaluate their education programs to ensure that an athlete’s first exposure to anti-doping is not when a doping control officer notifies them for testing.
  • Expanded jurisdiction. Sport organization officers, directors, employees and volunteers are now subject to the Code and could face sanctions for activities such as tampering, trafficking, complicity, retaliation and association with ineligible athlete support personnel.
  • Standard reduced sanctions for substances of abuse. Athletes who test positive for an as-yet defined group of substances will be eligible for an expedited process and reduced sanctions, with further reductions tied to drug rehabilitation.
  • Sanction reductions for admissions. Athletes who admit to a violation within a specified timeframe will be eligible for reduced sanction periods.
The first of several consultation opportunities is already underway.

As part of ongoing national and multi-sport organization engagement, CCES staff are meeting with representatives of organizations that have adopted the CADP to discuss changes to the 2021 program.

Mark your calendars with these milestone dates.
 
April 1, 2020     Draft 1 of the 2021 CADP distributed for comment
May 6, 2020   Ethical Sport Symposium to discuss new Code provisions and other pressing issues in doping
May 20, 2020      End of Phase 1 consultations
June 15, 2020 Draft 2 distributed for comment
August 31, 2020  End of Phase 2 consultations
October 1, 2020   Final 2021 CADP released
December 31, 2020   Deadline for adoption by sport organizations
   
We’d love to hear from you.

For more information on the 2021 WADA Code, the CADP and this year’s consultations, please call 1-800-672-7775 or email [email protected].

About the CCES
The CCES is an independent, national, not-for profit organization with a responsibility to administer the Canadian Anti-Doping Program. We recognize that true sport can make a great difference for individuals, communities and our country. The CCES acknowledges funding, in part, from the Government of Canada. We are committed to making sport better by working collaboratively to activate a values-based and principle-driven sport system; protecting the integrity of sport from the negative forces of doping and other unethical threats; and advocating for sport that is fair, safe and open to everyone.

For further information, please contact:

+1 613-521-3340 x3233
[email protected]