Skate Canada boycotts Alberta over ban on men in women's sports

Skate Canada, the governing body for figure skating in Canada, announced it will no longer host national or international events in Alberta in response to the province’s law governing transgender-identifying athletes.

In a statement released Tuesday, the organization said the decision was prompted by Alberta’s Fairness and Safety in Sport Act, which prohibits biological males from competing in women’s sports. The law went into effect in September and bars transgender-identifying athletes aged 12 or older from participating in female sports.

“Skate Canada considers a variety of criteria when selecting host locations for its national events,” the organization said, according to CTV News. “Following a careful assessment of Alberta’s Fairness and Safety in Sport Act, Skate Canada has determined that we are unable to host events in the province while maintaining our national standards for safe and inclusive sport.”

The announcement drew sharp criticism from Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who called the decision “disgraceful” and said the provincial government expects an apology.

“Women and girls have the right to play competitive sports in a safe and fair environment against other biological females,” Smith posted on X. “This view is held by a vast majority of Albertans and Canadians. It is also common sense and common decency. Skate Canada‘s refusal to hold events in Alberta because we choose to protect women and girls in sport is disgraceful.”

“We expect they will apologize and adjust their policies once they realize they are not only compromising the fairness and safety of their athletes, but are also offside with the international community, including the International Olympic Committee, which is moving in the same direction as Alberta,” she added.

Alberta Sport Minister Andrew Boitchenko echoed Smith’s criticism in a separate statement, saying that, “No athlete should have an unfair advantage, and no athlete should have to put themselves at risk of harm to participate in the sports they love.”