Residency Rules
RESIDENCY RULES
Eligibility rules for Curling Canada Championships – NOT including the Tournament of Hearts or the Brier – are updated as follows:
These rules apply to the following Curling Canada Championships:
- 4-person Mixed
- Curling Club Championships
- Mixed Doubles
- Seniors
- Under-18
- Under-21
- Wheelchair
Competitors:
- Must be Canadian citizens.
- Exception: Competitors at the Under-18, the Curling Club Championships & the Wheelchair Championship do not have to be Canadian citizens but they do have to be residents of Canada unless granted an exception by the Member Association.
- Must be residents of Canada.
- Exception: Member Associations may allow Canadian citizens who are residents of the United States and are active members in good standing of affiliated Canadian curling clubs, to participate.
- All four (4) members and any alternates must be bona fide residents within the geographic area of the Member Association they are intending to represent.
- Except for the Under-18, the Curling Club Championships & the Wheelchair Championship, a player may not have competed for any other country in any WCF competition (at any level) the previous two curling seasons (curling is marked as September 1 to May 31).
PROOF OF RESIDENCY
To ensure that all individuals are treated equally, an individual must be able to provide proof to be considered a resident for playdown purposes.
Except for Free Agents and Student / Athletes under the age of 21 (effective 2019-2020), it is understood that an individual may only participate in one (1) province or territory in any championship season.
An individual claiming to be a bona fide resident of the specific curling province or territory whose playdown structure he or she wishes to enter, must be able to provide a minimum of three (3) of the following four (4) items to the Member Association (if requested):
- Current Drivers Licence (or valid travel picture ID) from that province/territory;
- Current Health Care Card from that province/territory;
- Letter from employer confirming employment within the province/territory;
- Statement from landlord (if renting) or bank (if owned) confirming residency within the province/territory – a copy of a property tax invoice for non-mortgaged property is also adequate. Recommend a statutory declaration be obtained.
- IN ADDITION TO PROVIDING THE ABOVE DOCUMENTATION AN INDIVIDUAL MUST SPEND THE MAJORITY OF THEIR NON-COMPETE TIME IN THE PROVINCE / TERRITORY IN WHICH THEY ARE CLAIMING TO BE A BONA FIDE RESIDENT.
To participate in any Curling Canada Championship, individuals MUST be bona fide residents of the province or territory in which they wish to enter play prior to September 1st of the year preceding the championship season. Exception: Free Agents and Birthright exemptions.
This time frame may be shortened in the following circumstances:
- Transfer due to employment
- School attendance
- Military service and transfer
Exemptions may be made in exceptional circumstances if granted by two Member Associations:
- Individuals live within a short distance of a provincial/territorial boundary;
- Full-time on-campus students attending a recognized post-secondary educational institute may either play out of the province/territory in which they are attending school or, the province/territory in which they are maintaining a residence. An individual may be requested to provide proof of registration and semester transcripts.
- Individuals that reside in province/territory “A” and conduct the majority of their work outside of province/territory “A” may represent province/territory “A” on the assumption that they can validate that the majority of their non-work and non-train/compete time is spent in province/territory “A”.
- Individuals that have a primary residence in province/territory “A”, a temporary/secondary residence in province/territory “B”, and conduct the majority of their work in province territory “B”, may represent province/territory “B” on the assumption that they can validate that the majority of their work-related time is spent in province/territory “B”. (The individual must be able to provide positive proof that their predominant employment from September 1st to March 31st of the curling season the exemption is being requested, will be located with the geographical area of the Member Association they wish to represent*).
PROCESS FOR RESIDENCY EXEMPTION REQUESTS
- Exemption requests must be received by Curling Canada and the respective Member Associations, a minimum of thirty (30) days prior to the Member Association deadline for entry to the first stage of the championship in question.
- Detailed information will be required with the exemption request.
- The respective Member Associations will review all information and approve or deny the application.
- If Member Associations cannot agree on a decision, a committee that includes the following three individuals will make the decision and their ruling will be considered final:
- CEO of Curling Canada
- Director, High Performance of Curling Canada
- Chair or Vice-Chair of the Operations (ED) Council
- Individuals who have employment in two curling jurisdictions may be required to participate in a formal interview that will include the identified employer, a representative of the Member Associations and the Director of High Performance of Curling Canada.
- Individuals that meet exemption criteria will be considered bona fide residents of the province/territory granting the exemption. They are not considered free agents.
In the case when a team enters the Provincial/Territorial/Canadian Championship playdown and is found not to be following the residency policy, the entire team risks being suspended for one (1) year from Curling Canada and Member Association sanctioned events. Suspension shall only be implemented subsequent to due process and it is determined that residency and/or exemption related information has been provided in a fraudulent manner.
PROCESS FOR CHALLENGES
It is understood that this policy will be a national policy and, in the event the policy is challenged, Curling Canada will assist in the defense of any challenge at the Member Association level and/or protect Curling Canada’s interest and its costs, as the Associations mutually deem appropriate.
WHEREABOUTS PROGRAM
Curling Canada’s “whereabouts” program will be implemented as required to provide confirmation that a team member is in compliance with the established residency and/or exemption criteria and to ensure all related documentation/ statements that the individual has provided are valid.
The protocol for the “whereabouts” program is as follows:
- It is brought to the attention of a Member Association that a team member(s) may not be compliant with the residency / exemption policy criteria.
- If the Member Association agrees, they shall work together with Curling Canada in an effort to establish confirmation that the individual is compliant.
- The individual(s) shall be contacted and asked to confirm that the documentation / statements provided are accurate / valid and to establish that they are aware of the potential consequence of having provided fraudulent documents and/or statements.
- The Member Association and Curling Canada shall then determine if further confirmation is warranted and if so, the Director of High Performance will implement Curling Canada’s Whereabouts Program.
- The individual will be contacted and requested to participate in Curling Canada’s Whereabouts Program and their team will be advised. Failure to grant approval will result in the individual being deemed not to be complying.
- The whereabouts program is intended to establish the exact location of the individual on a 24/7 basis and therefore the individual must be a willing participant in providing proof positive as to the credibility of their claim to follow the residency policy and/or exemption criteria.
- The Whereabouts Program will make use of any reasonable means possible/available to establish that the individual in question is in fact in compliance with the residency policy and/or exemption criteria. This will be done with the approval of the individual in question. Failure to grant approval will result in the individual being deemed not to be complying.
If it is established that the individual is deemed not to be complying, they will be provided the opportunity to participate in Curling Canada’s Appeal Process, which will be implemented in a timely manner by the Director, High Performance.