Ottawa – October 30, 2025 – The Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES) was proud to participate in the 2025 AthletesCAN Forum in Calgary earlier this month, underscoring our commitment to fostering a sport system in Canada that is safe, fair, and clean. The Forum provided an important opportunity to engage directly with athletes, draw insight from their lived experiences, and ensure their voices continue to shape the future of sport integrity in Canada.
As part of the Forum’s program, Signy Arnason, CCES Executive Director of Safe Sport, provided an overview of the Canadian Safe Sport Program (CSSP). Arnason walked athletes through the new program’s intake process, which ensures participants can safely raise concerns, shared highlights and progress from the CSSP’s first quarter, and answered athletes’ questions about the program and its application.
The Forum also provided an opportunity for the first in-person meeting of the Sport Integrity Athlete Advisory Committee, a group that ensures responses to sport integrity issues are shaped by athlete perspectives and their lived experiences. The committee’s insights will directly inform the CCES’s ongoing efforts to address emerging and evolving issues in sport and ensure programs remain athlete centred.
Jeremy Luke, President and CEO of the CCES, emphasized the organization’s commitment to listening to and learning from athletes:
“AthletesCAN Forum is a unique opportunity for us to learn from athlete leaders across Canada about how we can best support and protect them in the sport integrity context. Thanks to athlete engagement at the Forum, we gained valuable insight into their needs and expectations for our safe sport, anti-doping, and competition manipulation programs.”
“Our ongoing collaboration with the CCES is vital to strengthening accountability and athlete protection across the sport system,” said Colin Hodgson, Vice President, AthletesCAN. “The session with Signy Arnason was an important reminder that safe sport begins with awareness, accountability, and collaboration. By engaging directly with athletes at Forum, CCES reinforced its commitment to building a culture of trust and integrity — one where every athlete feels informed, protected, and empowered to speak up.”
Through its continued collaboration with AthletesCAN, the CCES will build on this momentum, working with athletes and the greater sport community to protect and promote sport integrity.
About AthletesCAN
AthletesCAN, the association of Canada’s national team athletes, is the only fully independent and most inclusive athlete organization in the country and the first organization of its kind in the world. As the voice of over 6,000 current and recently retired Canadian national team athletes, AthletesCAN membership spans 68 sports across the Olympic, Paralympic, Pan/Parapan American, and Commonwealth Games, and those currently funded by Sport Canada competing at Senior World Championships. AthletesCAN ensures an athlete-centered sport system by developing athlete leaders who influence sport policy and, as role models, inspire a strong sport culture, through educational resources, support, training and professional development.
Follow the #AthleteVoice on social @AthletesCAN
About the CCES
The CCES is an independent, national, not-for-profit organization that works to protect and promote the integrity of sport in Canada. Through the administration of its programs, including the Canadian Anti-Doping Program and the CSSP, the CCES strives to ensure sport is safe, inclusive, fair, clean, and accessible for all Canadians. The CCES acknowledges funding from the Government of Canada. For more information, visit cces.ca, follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, or Facebook.
– 30 –
For further information, please contact:
Jennifer Hopmans, OLY
Manager, Digital Marketing & Communications
AthletesCAN
613-526-4025 x 224
[email protected]