Join Team Canada

About the Team Canada Program

The Team Canada Program is Orienteering Canada’s year-round program for our top competitive orienteers as well as up and coming athletes who demonstrate potential to compete at international events for Canada in the near future. We are also happy to have athletes living in Canada but not eligible to compete internationally for Canada join if they are competing at a similar level and will contribute to creating a positive inclusive environment for competitive orienteering in Canada.

This program is the top development and performance pathway for Canadian orienteers in the Learn to Compete, Train to Compete, and Train to Win stages of our Long Term Athlete Development Model. Athletes in the program are divided into several teams: Senior National Team, Senior Development Team, Junior National Team, Junior Development Team, and Ski and Mountain Bike Orienteering Teams. 

The Team Canada Program has been designed with a focus on team and teamwork with the intent to foster a team culture in which Team Canada athletes and other members support and cheer for each other, push each other to be better, and are outstanding role models for the community.

Our values of work ethic, teamwork, love of orienteering, dedication, fair play, and communication are reflected by the approach our athletes and our coaches take on a daily basis. 

Team Canada athletes are supported by a number of Team Canada Coaches as well as personal or club coaches and support personnel. Orienteering Canada staff and volunteers support individual athletes and the team as a whole through a variety of initiatives.

Anti-Doping

Orienteering Canada is committed to building drug-free sport and is unequivocally opposed, on ethical, medical, and legal grounds, to the practice of doping in sport. We work closely with the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES). All Team Canada athletes undergo education and testing year-round. Learn more about our anti-doping program.

Become a Member of the Team Canada Program

We are always looking for athletes that are striving for their utmost potential, are interested in competing internationally in orienteering, demonstrate the Team Canada values, and want to work with a team of like minded athletes and coaches. 

Athletes wishing to apply to be a part of the Team Canada Program should see the information in the Team Canada Athlete Handbook. Foot, ski, and mountain bike orienteering athletes are welcome to apply. Applications are due in the fall for the following year. Applications for the 2025 season are due October 20th, 2024.

We may, at our discretion, invite and add talented athletes to the Team Canada Program throughout the year. Athletes that are invited must still go through the application process with updated deadlines that will be communicated to them. 

If you are interested in applying or have questions about being invited to the team, email our High Performance Director at jeff@orienteering.ca.

Download 2025 Team Canada Handbook

Selection to International Event Teams

In addition to our Team Canada Program, we send teams to a variety of International Events each year:

  • World Orienteering Championships
  • Junior World Orienteering Championships
  • World University Orienteering Championships
  • World Cup Events
  • North American Orienteering Championships
  • World Games
  • Various Ski and Mountain Bike Orienteering Events

Teams are selected separately for each of these events and these International Event Teams are managed separately from the Team Canada Program.  

There is no requirement for athletes to be members of the Team Canada Program in order to be selected to an International Event Team in foot orienteering. For ski and mountain bike orienteering, athletes must be a member of the Team Canada Program in order to be selected to represent Canada at any international event such as the World Championship and World Cup races, World University Championships, etc. 

Selection for international events teams is each managed by a selection policy.

The 2025 Ski-O Selection Policy is here.

For 2025 the selection policies for The World Championships, World Cups, Junior World Championships, and World Games have been combined into one document. Breakout documents for each event are also available (see below). There is a single evaluation form that is required for all of these events which is also linked below.

The 2025 Foot-O Selection Policy is here.

Evaluation Form

2025 WOC Selection Policy

2025 World Cup Selection Policy

2025 JWOC Selection Policy

2025 World Games Selection Policy

There was a Q&A session held on October 26th. You can find the recording of that session here. If you need the pass code to access the session send an email to our High Performance Director at jeff@orienteering.ca.

Team Canada News

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Supporting Team Canada

Orienteering Canada is always looking for a variety of support from the community for Team Canada. There are several ways to support. Find out how!

Support the Team