Example National Sports Organization Code of Conduct
( Courtesy of A.I. )
For educational purposes, it is recommended to research and consult with your own legal or professional teams if establishing your own
This code of conduct is most applicable to Canadian Sports Organizations
1. Purpose and Application
This Code establishes the standards of conduct required to maintain a safe, inclusive, ethical,
transparent, and professionally governed sport environment.
This Code applies to:
directors and officers;
employees and contractors;
coaches, trainers, managers, officials, and medical personnel;
athletes and students;
volunteers and parents or guardians;
members, affiliates, clubs, teams, and committees;
agents, consultants, sponsors, event personnel, and service providers; and
any person representing or participating in an Organization activity.
It applies at training, competitions, camps, travel, meetings, social events, fundraising activities,
online activities, recruitment activities, and any conduct connected with the Organization.
Where applicable, this Code must be read consistently with the Universal Code of Conduct to
Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport (UCCMS), the Canadian Human Rights Act, RSC
1985, c H-6, applicable provincial human-rights legislation, the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c
C-46, occupational-health-and-safety legislation, privacy legislation, and the rules of the relevant
international or national sport federation.
2. Organizational Commitments
The Organization will:
1. prioritize participant safety, dignity, health, and well-being;
2. prohibit abuse, harassment, discrimination, exploitation, retaliation, and conflicts of
interest;
3. promote fair, transparent, and evidence-based decision-making;
4. maintain appropriate safeguards for children and vulnerable persons;
5. protect privacy and confidential information;
6. provide accessible reporting and complaint procedures;
7. respond promptly and impartially to concerns;
8. maintain accurate financial, membership, recruitment, and incident records;
9. disclose material affiliations, authority, funding, and selection criteria; and
10. cooperate lawfully with sport bodies, regulators, police, child-protection authorities, and
courts.
3. Fundamental Standards
Every person governed by this Code must:
act honestly, respectfully, and in good faith;
comply with applicable law and sport rules;
follow reasonable safety instructions;
respect personal boundaries and consent;
avoid conduct that creates an unreasonable risk of harm;
use organizational authority only for legitimate purposes;
protect confidential and personal information;
disclose actual or potential conflicts of interest;
maintain accurate records;
cooperate honestly with authorized reviews and investigations; and
report serious misconduct or safety concerns.
4. Maltreatment and Prohibited Conduct
The following conduct is prohibited:
4.1 Abuse and harassment
physical, psychological, emotional, or sexual abuse;
bullying, hazing, humiliation, threats, intimidation, or coercion;
discriminatory or harassing conduct;
stalking or repeated unwanted contact;
retaliation against a complainant, witness, reporter, or investigator;
knowingly filing a false complaint or deliberately misleading an investigation; and
conduct that causes a participant reasonably to fear for personal safety.
4.2 Sexual misconduct and boundaries
No person may:
engage in sexual conduct with a child or person unable to provide legally valid consent;
exploit a position of trust, authority, or dependency for sexual purposes;
pursue or encourage a sexual or romantic relationship where the person has coaching,
evaluative, supervisory, medical, financial, or selection authority;
make sexualized comments, jokes, requests, gestures, or communications to a minor;
request or distribute intimate images without consent;
create, possess, access, or distribute sexual-abuse material involving a minor;
use sport recruitment, funding, travel, selection, employment, or advancement to obtain
sexual access or personal sexual benefits;
arrange sexual services or sexualized events for minors; or
require a participant to conceal sexual contact, communications, payments, or
relationships.
Conduct involving sexual services may engage Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, ss
286.1–286.4. Conduct involving exploitation or recruitment may engage Criminal Code, RSC
1985, c C-46, ss 279.01–279.04.
4.3 Children and vulnerable participants
The Organization will maintain heightened safeguards for minors and vulnerable persons,
including:
appropriate screening and reference checks;
required safeguarding training;
the Rule of Two or an equivalent supervision standard;
documented consent and emergency information;
appropriate supervision during travel and overnight activities;
restrictions on private communications and isolated meetings;
safe transportation and accommodation procedures; and
mandatory reporting where required by law.
No adult may groom, isolate, manipulate, recruit, threaten, or financially or sexually exploit a
minor.
5. Coach, Official, and Adult Representative Duties
Coaches and other adults with authority must:
act in the participant’s best interests;
use age-appropriate instruction and language;
obtain consent before appropriate physical contact;
use only necessary physical contact for instruction, safety, or first aid;
avoid unnecessary one-on-one contact with minors;
use approved communication channels;
copy another screened adult or parent where appropriate;
respect privacy in changing, medical, and personal-care settings;
maintain accurate attendance, travel, medical, and incident records;
disclose conflicts of interest;
follow concussion, injury, medication, and emergency protocols; and
report concerns promptly.
They must not use selection, playing time, rankings, funding, employment, immigration
assistance, education, travel, or advancement to obtain improper personal, sexual, political, or
financial benefits.
6. Athlete, Student, and Participant Duties
Participants must:
treat others respectfully;
follow safety and sport instructions;
respect consent, privacy, and personal boundaries;
refrain from bullying, threats, harassment, discrimination, and hazing;
avoid unauthorized recording or distribution of images;
protect confidential information;
report serious safety or misconduct concerns; and
cooperate honestly with investigations.
A person will not be disciplined solely for making a good-faith report that is ultimately
unsubstantiated.
7. Digital Communications, Media, and Technology
All persons must:
use respectful and professional digital communications;
avoid secret or inappropriate private communications with minors;
obtain consent before recording, photographing, livestreaming, or publishing identifiable
images;
protect passwords, medical information, location data, and personal records;
not access accounts, devices, databases, or communications without authorization;
not publish intimate images without consent;
not use anonymous accounts to harass, threaten, impersonate, or retaliate;
preserve relevant records when a concern is reported; and
comply with applicable privacy law.
Public statements made on behalf of the Organization require authorization. No person may
falsely claim to represent the Organization, Canada, a national team, an international federation,
or a foreign league.
8. Recruitment, Representation, and Affiliations
Recruitment materials and public representations must accurately identify:
the Organization’s legal identity and authority;
affiliations and approvals;
the status of teams, leagues, events, and selections;
fees, commissions, sponsorships, and funding;
employment, immigration, travel, and accommodation arrangements;
selection criteria and opportunities;
risks and obligations; and
the identity of the contracting party.
No person may conceal a material relationship, misrepresent authorization, use unauthorized
national branding, or promise benefits that the Organization cannot lawfully provide.
False or misleading representations may engage the Competition Act, RSC 1985, c C-34, ss 52
and 74.01 or the fraud provisions of the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, s 380.
9. Financial Integrity and Governance
The Organization must maintain:
proper corporate and regulatory registrations;
accurate books and financial records;
documented approval of expenditures;
separation of personal and organizational funds;
written contracts for material arrangements;
lawful payroll, tax, employment, and volunteer practices;
conflict-of-interest declarations;
transparent sponsorship and funding records;
accurate charitable, grant, and public-funding reports; and
procedures for investigating suspected financial misconduct.
No person may:
divert organizational funds;
conceal revenue or compensation;
falsify records, invoices, memberships, or expenses;
accept undisclosed commissions;
misuse grants, sponsorships, or public funds;
operate a pyramid-selling or deceptive recruitment scheme; or
retaliate against a person who raises a financial or governance concern.
10. Conflicts of Interest
A conflict exists where personal, financial, family, sexual, political, employment, or
organizational interests could reasonably affect impartial decision-making.
Persons with a conflict must:
1. disclose it promptly;
2. refrain from influencing the relevant decision;
3. abstain from voting where appropriate; and
4. comply with any management plan adopted by the Organization.
The Organization will maintain a conflict register for directors, senior officers, selection
officials, and persons with financial or recruitment authority.
11. Medical, Disability, and Accessibility Standards
The Organization will:
provide reasonable accommodation to the point of undue hardship;
protect medical information and disclose it only on a need-to-know basis;
maintain accessible facilities and communications where reasonably possible;
respect service animals and adaptive equipment;
use individualized emergency and support plans; and
avoid discriminatory treatment based on disability, illness, or injury.
Medical information must not be used for retaliation, public embarrassment, improper selection
decisions, or unauthorized disclosure.
12. Complaints and Reports
A concern may be reported to:
the Organization’s designated safeguarding officer;
the independent complaint process required by the UCCMS;
the board chair or an independent director;
the relevant provincial, national, or international sport body;
police or emergency services;
child-protection authorities where a child may require protection; or
another lawful regulator or oversight body.
Reports may be oral or written and should identify, where possible:
the people involved;
dates, locations, and events;
specific conduct;
available witnesses and records;
immediate safety concerns; and
any retaliation or interference.
The Organization will not obstruct a person from contacting police, a regulator, a court, a
tribunal, or an independent complaint process.
13. Response and Investigation
1. assess immediate safety risks;
2. implement appropriate interim measures;
3. preserve relevant records;
4. refer suspected criminal or child-protection matters where required;
5. use an appropriately independent investigator or decision-maker;
6. manage conflicts of interest;
7. provide affected persons a fair opportunity to respond;
8. protect complainants and witnesses from retaliation;
9. document findings and reasons; and
10. communicate outcomes to the extent lawfully permitted.
Interim measures are not findings of wrongdoing. Confidentiality will be respected but cannot be
guaranteed where disclosure is required to protect people, comply with law, or conduct a fair
process.
14. Retaliation and Interference
Retaliation is prohibited. It includes:
threats or harassment;
adverse selection, employment, funding, or membership decisions;
surveillance or unauthorized investigation;
doxxing or publication of private information;
coercive settlement demands;
pressure to withdraw or change a report;
contacting a person’s employer, family, school, or sponsors to punish reporting;
filing knowingly false or materially misleading reports; and
interfering with witnesses, evidence, investigations, or proceedings.
Potentially criminal conduct may include intimidation, obstruction, public mischief, perjury, or
fabrication of evidence under the Criminal Code, RSC 1985, c C-46, ss 131, 137, 139, 140, and
423.1.
15. Interim Measures
Pending investigation, the Organization may:
modify supervision or communication arrangements;
separate individuals;
suspend duties or access;
restrict travel, facility, or online access;
appoint alternate personnel;
preserve records through lawful means;
provide medical, accessibility, or psychological support; and
make referrals to authorities.
Interim measures must be proportionate, periodically reviewed, and not used as punishment
before a finding.
16. Discipline
A breach may result in:
education or training;
a warning;
a corrective-action plan;
removal from an event or position;
suspension;
loss of membership, certification, funding, or privileges;
termination of employment or contract;
repayment or financial restrictions;
referral to a sport body, regulator, police, or child-protection authority; and
civil or criminal proceedings.
Discipline will consider the seriousness, duration, repetition, harm, vulnerability of affected
persons, abuse of authority, concealment, retaliation, cooperation, and prior conduct.
17. Records and Transparency
The Organization will maintain secure records of:
screening and training;
memberships and certifications;
payments, sponsorships, and grants;
contracts and affiliations;
complaints and incidents;
investigations and decisions;
conflicts of interest; and
corrective actions.
Records must not be destroyed, altered, concealed, or withheld for an improper purpose.
Retention and disclosure must comply with applicable privacy and legal requirements.
18. Acknowledgment
I acknowledge that I have read, understood, and agree to comply with this Code, the
Organization’s policies, applicable law, and the rules of relevant sport governing bodies.
Name: ______________________________
Role: _______________________________
Signature: ___________________________
Date: _______________________________
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