EC’s key actions this week:

Began building a panel of experts and industry members to look at developing business continuity strategies and protocols based on science and federal and provincial health standards that will help business operations resume as soon as federal and provincial legislation allows.

Engaged a third-party consultant to analyze data from the survey gathering business profiles and develop the advocacy strategy for use by the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada equine sector working group, which also had its first meeting this week.

Hosted a webinar on demystifying the National Coaching Certification Program to continue providing professional development opportunities to coaches during quarantine.

Developed the framework for a decision tree that will be a resource for coaches, trainers and athletes through the return to competition working group. This decision tree is supported by a series of resources to help guide horse conditioning in the areas of cardiovascular and strength development. Work is being completed for each discipline to support horse conditioning for a return to competition that is gradual and phased in the interest of horse and athlete safety. We are seeing from the provincial and federal governments that even when the country starts to open, there will be a graduated return to activity. All are encouraged to focus on staying healthy and following the directives of your local and provincial health authorities. For human athletes, there is good information on return to sport being published by the Canadian Sport Institute Sport Medicine Advisory Committee, which can be found in their regular bulletins.

Hosted our second National Team Program athlete meeting to share updates on mental health, resources for nutrition and mindfulness, the Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee and FEI.

EC is making every effort to ensure continuous, thorough and up-to-date communication concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. EC’s complete statement on COVID-19, including regular updates, can be found on our website here. For the running list of cancelled/postponed clinics and events, click here.