Ottawa, ON (Oct. 29, 2024) – In collaboration with the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner and Abuse-Free Sport, Gymnastics Canada (GymCan) was recently the subject of a Sport Environment Assessment (SEA) to identify areas for improvement and ensure the highest standards of safety and integrity in our sport.
GymCan extends its sincere gratitude to the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner (OSIC), Abuse-Free Sport, Shelina Neallani, and all participants who generously contributed their time and valuable insights to this Sport Environment Assessment. The input and feedback provided is instrumental in helping GymCan advance our efforts in safeguarding, governance, athlete engagement, and communication, ensuring we continue to grow and foster a positive environment for everyone involved in our sport.
The scope of GymCan’s Sport Environment Assessment included a review of our work to address the recommendations outlined in the McLaren Report. It equally sought to assess GymCan’s ability to prevent and address maltreatment, discrimination, and other prohibited behaviors. Particular attention was paid to determining whether any systemic issues are present in the sport environment. The SEA Report contains a series of recommendations that will support a safer and stronger gymnastics sport environment. GymCan is fully committed to integrating the recommendations outlined in this report into our ongoing safety plans – find our detailed response to the SEA Recommendations in Appendix A.
Earlier this year, GymCan announced the formation of a National Safety Steering Committee with a clear mandate to draw on safety and safeguarding best practices and stakeholder feedback to ensure we effectively address the recommendations from both the McLaren Report and the OSIC Sport Environment Assessment. The Committee is working closely with GymCan Safe Sport staff to develop and guide the implementation of a meaningful safety strategy focused on a safer and stronger gymnastics environment, one that strengthens our culture and increases safety for all participants from grassroots to high performance.
We know that this work will need to be informed by meaningful engagement, ensuring that the voices of athletes, parents, coaches, club owners, recreational gymnastics administrators, provincial and territorial representatives, and other leaders within our sport community continue to be heard and incorporated.
Aligned with OSIC’s dedication to the Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS) and its core principles, GymCan is focused on improving communication and educational initiatives, and strengthening safeguarding and leadership within the organization. GymCan is also committed to enhancing resources, procedures, and practices that enable us to uphold our mission of creating a safe and supportive environment for all gymnastics participants, at every level of the sport.
For more information on the OSIC, please visit www.sportintegritycommissioner.ca.
Andrew Price
CEO, Gymnastics Canada
Dr. Kacey Neely
Director, Safe Sport, Gymnastics Canada