Ever wondered beyond requiring you to purchase a sport license to compete, what EC does? Equestrian Canada fundamentally provides the structure, oversight, and promotion of all facets of equestrian sport from coast to coast to coast, but some may not understand what that actually means.

EC is both an amateur athletic association and a national governing body for sport. It is an organization that has formed from amalgamations, mergers and over time has evolved from the grassroots to a formalized, structured, and governed organization.

As representatives of EC, staff and volunteers strive to be a united national voice of the equestrian community. As a group of horse people and sports professionals, everyone is working to serve, promote and protect the interests of athletes in our sport – both horse and human.

Together with all of you, we champion best practices, encourage participation and strive for excellence. Equestrian Canada is collectively dedicated to its vision of Fostering a love of horses and sport, for life.

Desk of: Navigating EC – What Does Our National Equestrian Sport Organization Do?RCAAA & NSO Responsibilities

EC in all of its iterations has been Canada’s Amateur Athletic Association (RCAAA) for equestrian sport since 1977. EC was created to promote amateur equestrian athletics in Canada on a nation-wide basis. 

Desk of: Navigating EC – What Does Our National Equestrian Sport Organization Do?

Based on the government requirements for the role of an RCAAA, EC is required to:

  • regulate equestrian sport rules of competition;
  • promote the sport;
  • provide a training and certification program for coaches and judges;
  • operate a training program that brings promising athletes from the grass-roots level to national and international levels through various qualifying competitive events;
  • operate a national team to participate at international competitions;
  • sanction local, regional, provincial and national competitions;
  • oversee regional and provincial bodies involved in the sport;
  • act as a Canadian representative of an international federation controlling the sport (FEI); and
  • carry out fund-raising activities and re-distribution of funds.

In its additional role as the national federation, EC is the only Canadian National Sport Organization (NSO) out of 66 that includes both human and animal athletes.

Based on the government mandate for the role of an NSO, EC:

  • is responsible to sanction all national level competitions;
  • provides professional development for coaches and officials;
  • manages the High Performance Program revolving around the National Teams for all disciplines including coaching, hiring, team selection, providing insurance;
  • administers proposals and supports bids for international competitions in Canada; and
  • has a duty to oversee all that impacts our sport (which includes active equine welfare).

Active Equine Industry

A key difference in our sport is our horses. For most everyone involved in our community, a love of horses is what brings us together and is our shared passion. EC is committed to promoting and protecting a vibrant active equine industry in Canada.

As part of this commitment, EC provides a structure and national forum for industry stakeholders, breed organizations and other affiliates to exchange information, resources and expertise with unity of purpose to increase the long-term profitability of Canada’s active equine sector. EC maintains close working relationships with over a dozen national equine affiliate organizations.

EC also serves as the governing body representing equestrian and active equine interests in Canada recognized by the Government of Canada, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada and foreign entities.

A History of Mergers

For over four decades, there has been national representation for our sport. EC has evolved from the coming together of common interests and a desire to have an advocate, overseer, promoter and builder for equestrians and their horses.

The Canadian Equestrian Federation (CEF) was founded in 1976 as the first national governing body for both equestrian sport and industry as a merger between the National Equestrian Federation of Canada and the Canadian Horse Council.

The CEF which governed domestic equestrianism then merged with the Canadian Equestrian Team (CET) which represented Canada in international competition to create Equine Canada. Significant restructuring in 2015 aligned EC with Canada’s Not For Profit Corporations Act, and in 2016 the name and branding were changed to Equestrian Canada.

As the national governing body, in addition to RCAAA and NSO requirements, it is the executive branch of Canada’s Olympic & Paralympic equestrian teams, the national association and registry of Canadian equestrian athletes, national regulatory body for equestrian coaches, competition organizers, and judges, and national federation of Canadian active horse breeders and breed registries.

Building for a Better Future

As EC continues the path with its strategic plan, it is working on ways to better meet the needs of sport license holders, community members, athletes and teams. The entire EC team are very aware that there are things to work on and change for the sport and the future of equestrianism in Canada. In addition to being committed to change and increasing accountability and transparency, we want to work together with our community to make it happen. Hopefully with a little more insight into all that is EC, we welcome you to join us on the path.

Click here to learn more and understand the funding, finances, and function of EC.

Readers are welcome to join the EC AGM on September 19 2023 to learn more about EC’s plans and full financial statements for the 2023 year. Watch for information on how to join with Facebook live. 

The Faces Behind the NameDesk of: Navigating EC – What Does Our National Equestrian Sport Organization Do?

To deliver on all of its requirements and serve the equestrian community, EC is organized into six staff departments with 33 total current staff: Sport Operations, High Performance, Active Equine Industry and Development, Marketing & Communications, Finance, and Administration.

Administration
EC is led by Chief Executive Officer Meg Krueger and supported by Manager, Corporate Operations Marilyn Korim. Meg reports to EC’s Board of Directors and President Lisa Robertson and together with the EC Leadership Team is working to implement the 2025 strategic plan entitled “Building for a Better Future”. Krueger and Korim work closely with the volunteer board, board committees, operational committees, voting members, National Affiliate Associations & Corporations, Provincial and Territorial Partners to carry out EC’s mandate and plan.

Sport Operations
The operations department is the largest one at EC working directly with over 15,000 external stakeholders such as all Sport Licence Holders, coaches, officials, show organizers, volunteers, participants, E-campus learners and any safe sport inquiries. They also oversee rules and sanctioning, program development (such as Learn to Ride and Drive), event and horse administration for approximately 10,000 active horse athletes, results and rankings from over 400 sanctioned competitions, and coach development and certification for close to 2,000 coaches.

Director of Sport Operations, Rachel Huebert, oversees the department and is supported by the following staff focused on meeting the needs of the community in the domestic and amateur parts of our sport. The Sport Operations team includes:

Maria-Christina Lepore – Manager, Competition Services
Sophie Balogh – Manager, Sport Development (Learning, Development & Programming)
Sylvie Tanguay – Manager, Community Service (Customer Service)

Laurie Ehrman – Coordinator, REDI & Safe Sport
Sandy Aube – Coordinator, Sport Licence and Coach Status Services
Christine Primeau – Coordinator, Sport Licence & Registrations
Janelle Bruce – Coordinator, Coaching

Shauna Curran-Cooper – Coordinator, Equine Medication Control
Nicole Madill – Coordinator, Competition Services
Tony La Giorgia – Coordinator, Officials
Lori Hill – Associate, Competition Services (contract)
Pavel Robinson – Programmer Analyst

High Performance
The High Performance department works with all FEI disciplines including dressage, eventing, show jumping, para-dressage, endurance, driving and vaulting. The team assists close to 1,000 athletes and coaches to reach their full potential of qualifying and representing Canada at Olympics, Paralympics, Pan Am Games, FEI World Championships, Nations’ Cups and any other event on the FEI calendar and across Canada.

Led by Director, High Performance James Hood, the team includes:

Christine Peters – Senior Manager Dressage and Paralympic Program
Fleur Tipton – Manager, Eventing
Karen Hendry-Ouellette – Manager, Jumping

Lindsey Blakely – Coordinator, Jumping
Jamie-Ann Goodfellow – Coordinator, Para-Dressage
Celine Hutchison Majerus – Coordinator, Dressage
Eric Bobyn – Performance Analyst
Alexandra Hubley – Coordinator, FEI Athlete Services

Active Equine Industry and Development
As part of its commitment to promoting and protecting a vibrant active equine industry in Canada as well as the health and welfare of all active equines in Canada, the department works on projects and programs to be the voice of the horse in our sport.

Staff include:

Jean Klosowicz – Equine Traceability Business Development
Lindsay Nakonechny – Coordinator, Equine Animal Care Assessment Program

Marketing and Communications
Supporting the promotional and fundraising requirements of EC, the marketing and communications department represents the forward-facing voice of EC. The MarComms team is responsible for community engagement, document management, translation, event coverage, sport promotion, information dissemination, public relations, social media, sponsorship, event management and fundraising.

Led by Melanie McLearon, Director, Marketing and Communications, the team includes:

Annabelle Briand – Coordinator, Translation
Corey Dempsey – Coordinator, Communications
Erin Foster – Marketing Specialist
Gerry van Blokland – Graphic Design & Visual Media Specialist

Finance

The finance department handles EC’s $7M budget and all services related to the organizations financial well-being. The team, led by Director of Finance Danielle Bowness, completes all accounting tasks, recordkeeping, cash flow and administration. The team includes:

Han Wen Mo – Manager, Finance
Faizan Dawada – Coordinator, Finance