Canoe Kayak Canada (CKC) believes that everyone has the right to enjoy the sport at whatever level they participate. Athletes, coaches, officials, and volunteers have the right to participate in a safe and inclusive training and competitive environment that is free of abuse, harassment, or maltreatment. We are committed to making our culture better and are putting in place inclusive processes to help support our commitment to safe sport.
As of April 1, 2025, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) will independently administer the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS) for Canoe Kayak Canada through the Canadian Safe Sport Program (CSSP). The CCES receives and responds to reports about individuals who may have engaged in prohibited behaviour under the UCCMS.
Complaints will now be filed with either the CSSP or the Independent Third Party (The ITP) for CKC. A complete overview on how to file a complaint to either CSSP or the ITP is outlined in the sections below.
There are 2 mechanisms with respect to reporting a complaint which are used depending on the nature of the complaint and the jurisdiction of the respondent. The table below provides some detail as to which independent authority would receive the complaint. Again, for any questions please refer our CKC Policy Suite and to the Canadian Safe Sport Program ( CSSP) to help guide you through this process.
| What | CKC CSSP Participant | Individual (defined in CKC policies) |
| Alleged UCCMS breach | As of April 1, the CCES will accept reports through an online report form and by phone – both methods allow you to remain anonymous, if you wish. If you choose to share your name when you make a report, the CCES will not share it with your sport organization unless it is necessary to keep you or someone else safe, and will make every effort to get your consent beforehand.
|
Independent Third Party |
| Any other misconduct allegation under CKC policies | Independent Third Party (reporting link) | Independent Third Party |
Canoe Kayak Canada has adopted the Canadian Safe Sport Program (CSSP), which is in effect as of April 1, 2025.
Through the CSSP Rules, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) independently administers the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS) for federally funded, national-level sport organizations by receiving and responding to reports of prohibited behaviour, and by developing and carrying out education, prevention, and policy activities.
The CSSP Rules clearly and publicly set out how that will be done, including defined timelines at each stage of the reporting process. The CSSP also offers support services to connect participants with help along the way.
For more information about the CSSP and the UCCMS, click here.
How to report
As of April 1, the CCES will accept reports through an online report form and by phone – both methods allow you to remain anonymous if you wish. If you choose to share your name when you make a report, the CCES will not share it with your sport organization unless it is necessary to keep you or someone else safe, and will make every effort to get your consent beforehand.
Report online: https://cces.ca/report-safe-sport
Report by phone: 1-866-971-2777
Get help and information
You can contact the CSSP team with questions or for support here: https://cces.ca/contactCSSP.
Complete your e-learning
Canoe Kayak Canada will notify all designated participants who are subject to the CSSP. This includes, but is not limited to, specified athletes, board members, employees, casual staff, volunteers, and contractors, support staff, and medical staff.
Everyone who is subject to the CSSP must complete the e-learning course and sign the participant consent form. Canoe Kayak Canada will distribute an invitation that includes a link to sign up, instructions, and a code to access the course from the CCES online education portal. If you have questions about your education requirements, email education@cces.ca.
Safe Sport is a collective responsibility. By reporting concerns of maltreatment in sport, you are contributing to building a safer sport environment.
Canoe Kayak Canada’s safe sport policy reflects and supports the CSSP.
An independent third party is an individual external to CKC who is responsible for providing expert, objective, external facilitation of complaints in accordance with CKC’s safe sport policies.
CKC has retained Sport Dispute Management PC led by Jahmiah Ferdinand-Hodkin (she/her) to provide the independent third-party services to CKC’s community. Any individual who has witnessed, experienced, or received information regarding maltreatment of any kind can contact Jahmiah for information about the complaint process or to submit a complaint.
You can submit a complaint here – English Complaint Form – or ask questions of the Independent Third Party by contacting Sport Dispute Management at complaints@sportdispute.com.
It is helpful if maltreatment complaints are made as quickly as possible, but complaints will be received and processed regardless of when the concerning conduct occurred.
For more information regarding Sport Dispute Management and the complaint process, please see their website here.
Reporting Abuse or Harassment is often a difficult process. To this end, a person can expect the following when contacting the Independent Third Party:
Should any complaint or concern come to the attention of the CEO or any CKC representative, it will be forwarded to the Independent Third Party.
A reminder that the FAQ on CKC Safe Sport Policy can be found here and that all Safe Sport resources can be found on this page.
Training and screening are essential elements of ensuring our CKC community is safe and free of harassment and abuse for all participants.
The CKC Safe Sport Policy contains recommended and required training and screening for different roles based on the risk level associated with the role and authority of community members. All members or individuals associated with CKC in positions of trust or authority will be required to submit screening documents and/or complete training.
The CKC policy’s Screening Requirements Matrix as part of the Screening Policy outlines Risk Levels (Level N/A, 1, 2, 3) and associated recommended and required training and screening steps as shown below in Figure 1.
Figure 1. Steps to complete for Individuals. Please see details below.
For those individuals considered Level 1 Risk, they can go directly to Step 3. Those who are considered Level 2 and 3 should complete Steps 1 and 2 prior to starting Step 3.
Athletes named to, or taking part in, CKC Teams, or Training camps must complete Step 1.
There are 2 options to complete the TRAINING portion for ALL INDIVIDUALS:
CAC Safe Sport Training can be found here. Respect in Sport Activity Leaders Training can be found here.
Level 1 Risk Level: Training is recommended.
Level 2 and 3 Risk Levels: The above training (either or both modules) is required.
ALL ATHLETES named to, or taking part in, CKC Teams, or Training camps must complete the CAC Safe Sport training.
COACHES – All Coaches are also required to be Making Ethical Decisions certified.
All athletes on CKC teams, staff, volunteers working on a project on behalf of CKC (running a competition), committee or board members who are covered by a CKC Terms of Reference, National Level Officials and Integrated Sport Science Team members working with CKC teams will be required to complete Safe Sport Training.
You will need to have the following documents ready to upload prior to completing Step 3 and 4.
Figure 2. Documents required for screening.
* To note, a Criminal Record Check (CRC) can also be an E-PIC (Enhanced Police Information Check) done by a Third Party (example Sterling Backcheck) or, certain provinces or territories have their own mechanism for these background checks. Please see below the components required of a Criminal Record Check.
* Criminal Record Check components:
** A Vulnerable Sector Check/Screening (VSC/VSS) includes a Criminal Record Check.
Each organization has their own registration access for the Ramp Database. In order to access the final step below, to indicate which training you have taken from Step 1, upload your documents from Step 2 and fill out the forms in Step 4, you will need to ensure you can login to your organization’s site to access these forms. Please reach out to your organizations’ registrar if you are not sure of login details for your organization.
Figure 3. The Application form and the Screening Disclosure form have been combined into one online form that you can access by registering with your member organization through their Ramp Database. Instructions can be found here as to how to access the forms once registered.
To help Member organizations effectively screen their staff, coaches, board members and volunteers, CKC is offering the use of the secure, confidential process through an Independent Third-Party Screening Officer. Organizations can have their members submit the required screening documents and answer Screening questions based on their Level of Risk (including Police record checks, reference letters, confirmation of safe sport training etc.) using the Ramp Database through their own organizational access and registration. Submissions will be independently verified by a dedicated Third Party Screening Officer appointed by CKC, and individuals will receive confirmation that they have been screened and approved, or whether more documentation is required.
Please refer to this document for the instructions on the (a reminder that there is not one link to access these documents, you must be registered in your organization’s Ramp Database to access the forms).
Once an individual receives confirmation that they have been approved, they can inform their organization, who, if that individual completed the process through the organization’s Ramp Database access, will be able to confirm their Screening Level by pulling a report and checking off this field on the report. Please refer to this document for the instructions on pulling this report.
Each organization is responsible for ensuring members of their organization whose position is one of trust or authority are screened and trained depending on their risk level.
For further information on the Training & Screening processes, please consult the full CKC Policy Suite.
It is strongly recommended that all CKC member organizations have a Safe Sport Policy. Some may have provincial or territorial legislation or requirements from provincial funding partners to follow their PTSO’s, some may choose to develop their own, and others chose to adopt the CKC Policies.
In order for your members to access the screening forms and process provided by CKC, you will have to ensure those individuals can register into your organization through the Ramp Database access that was provided to you. There is no longer one link for individuals to access the screening process, they have access if they are registered members in the CKC hierarchical Ramp Database system, of which each member organization should have been given their own account.
To facilitate the adoption of CKC’s Safe Sport Policies, CKC has created a Safe Sport Member Declaration which can be adopted by member organizations at the Board level and signed off on by the appropriate representative. Once completed, the declaration should be sent to CKC at development@canoekayak.ca .
CKC is also recommending that members develop a webpage dedicated to Safe Sport for information and links to the CKC Safe Sport hub page.
The steps for adoption are laid out in below:
CKC POLICY MANUAL (APRIL 2025)
Quick reference to specific sections of the policy:
Appeals
Code of Conduct and Ethics
Dispute Resolution
Policy Definitions
Screening Policy
Screening Requirements Matrix
Click here for all other CKC Policies
Resources:
CKC Role Descriptions_Safe Sport Policies_2021
Member Declaration EN
CKC Safe Sport Policy & Adoption Q&A
