Official's Guide to Athletics Canada Track and Field 2026

The Athletics Canada National Safe Sport Policy (April 2025) requires every official to:

• Membership: keep an active membership with their provincial or territorial Branch.
• Safe Sport Training: complete Safe Sport Training and refresh it at least every four years, plus any extra training required by relevant bodies.
• Criminal record check: complete a Criminal Record Check and renew it at least every three years.
• Certification: complete, at a minimum, their Level 1 Officials Training/Certification, and are strongly encouraged to pursue further training and certification.
• Codes: consent to and follow the National Safe Sport Policy and its core policies.

All officiating activities are governed by the Athletics Canada National Safe Sport Program and the Athletics in Canada Code of Conduct, which also protect officials: Athletics Canada states it is committed to officials being treated with respect and professionalism by athletes, coaches, spectators and other officials.

Sources: https://athletics.ca/wp-content/uploads/2025/06/National-Safe-Sport-Policy-April-2025.pdf and the Athletics in Canada Officiating Policy (v1, June 2026).

Table 1 of the Athletics in Canada Officiating Policy (v1, June 2026) sets minimum event standards:

The meet designations for officials credits are L, P, N and NC respectively.

• World Athletics rankings eligibility depends on the sanctioning application.
  ** Some provincial or territorial championships may be considered N meets if they meet the criteria in the Meet Designation for Officials document. For the purposes of evaluation, officials one level below the minimum are acceptable.

Source: https://athletics.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/26386-June-AC-Officials-Policy-Eng-v4.pdf

The Athletics in Canada Officiating Policy (v1, June 2026) sets these event guidelines and working conditions, which Branches adopt into their sanctioning requirements:

• Shifts: no longer than 8 hours per official per day, with at least two short breaks and one longer break for lunch as the meet schedule allows (exceptions may apply for provincial and national championships or equivalents, and for weather delays).
• Shelter: adequate shelter against anticipated weather, including sun, rain and wind.
• Hydration and food: hydration readily available at all times, plus nutritious snacks, with reasonable accommodation of dietary restrictions and allergies.
• Travel: travel to and from the event site supported, within reason, for safe and timely arrival and departure.
• Uniform: one standard uniform (for example a white polo shirt) and a name tag per year or as needed, regardless of level.
• Equipment: all standard officiating equipment for the assigned role (flags, measuring tapes, clipboards, stopwatches, radios, rulebooks) provided at no cost to the official. The Branch is responsible for ensuring availability through the sanctioning process.
• Feedback: officials must have an opportunity to give feedback as part of the sanctioning process.

Source: https://athletics.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/26386-June-AC-Officials-Policy-Eng-v4.pdf

From the Athletics in Canada Officiating Policy (v1, June 2026):

• Technical Delegates: make sure technical arrangements conform to the rules, approve timetables, entry standards and equipment, control entries, chair technical meetings and submit reports before and after the competition.
• Referees (track, throws, jumps): ensure the rules are observed, rule on protests and unforeseen matters, decide placings if judges cannot, and warn or exclude athletes for unsporting or improper behaviour.
• Umpires: assist Referees by observing the competition and reporting violations, and supervise relay takeover zones.
• Judges: confirm the order of finish in track and road events, and judge and record trials in field events.
• Start team: the Start Coordinator allocates duties and supervises the team; the Starter ensures fair and equitable starts; Recallers assist the Starter and recall races for infringements; Starter's Assistants check readiness and assemble athletes behind the start line.
• Call Room Judges: check uniform, bib and equipment rules and supervise transit between the warm-up area and the competition area.
• Timekeepers, Photo Finish and Transponder Timing Judges: record times manually as backup, or operate the automatic systems.
• Lap Scorers: record laps completed in races longer than 1500m and signal the final lap.
• Wind Gauge Operator: measures and records wind velocity.
• Technical Manager: ensures field event areas and equipment comply with the rules and checks and marks personal implements.
• Competition Secretary and Technical Information Centre: collect and record results and link delegations, organizers and administration.

Source: https://athletics.ca/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/26386-June-AC-Officials-Policy-Eng-v4.pdf

• Individual events: except in combined events, any athlete responsible for a false start is disqualified by the Starter. Athletics Canada applies this to U16 athletes too. The Starter's Assistants raise a red and black (diagonally halved) card in front of the athlete.
• Combined events: on a first false start the athlete responsible is warned with a yellow and black (diagonally halved) card, and all other athletes in the race are warned in the same way that anyone committing a further false start will be disqualified. Further false starts lead to disqualification of the athlete responsible (red and black card).
• Several athletes moving: the Starter should warn or disqualify only the athlete or athletes who, in their opinion, were responsible for the false start. This may be more than one athlete.
• Recall not due to an athlete: if the recalled or aborted start is not due to any athlete, no warnings are given and a green card is shown to all the athletes.
• Unfair start: the Starter or any Recaller who thinks the start was not fair (for example blocks slipping or a foreign object interfering) recalls the athletes.

Sources: Athletics Canada Technical Rules, December 2025 (variation to Rule 16.8); World Athletics Technical Rules (C2.1, edition last modified 1 July 2026), Rule 16.

After assuming a full and final starting position, an athlete must not commence their start until the report of the gun. If, in the Starter's judgement, they do, it is a false start. The commencement of the start is:

• Crouch start: any motion that includes or results in one or both feet losing contact with the foot plate(s) of the blocks, or one or both hands losing contact with the ground.
• Standing start: any motion that results in one or both feet losing contact with the ground.

Also:

• If the Starter determines that an athlete initiated a movement before the gun that was not stopped and continued into the commencement of their start, it is also a false start.
• Any other motion is not the commencement of the start, but may bring a disciplinary warning or disqualification.
• Generally no false start is charged if the athlete has not lost contact with the ground or foot plates, for example if they raise and then lower their hips.
• In standing starts, accidental over-balancing may be called "unsteady" rather than a false start, and an athlete pushed or jostled over the line should not be penalised.
• When a World Athletics certified Start Information System is in use, an acoustic signal (reaction time under 0.100 second) tells the Starter or Recaller of a possible false start, and if the gun was fired there is a recall.

Source: World Athletics Technical Rules (C2.1, edition last modified 1 July 2026), Rule 16.

For all field events except the high jump and pole vault (unless the applicable regulations provide otherwise):

• Order: athletes compete in an order drawn by lot, with a fresh draw for the final if there is a qualification round.
• More than eight athletes: each athlete has three trials, then the eight athletes with the best valid performances have three more. An athlete needs a measured mark from at least one of their first three trials to get additional trials.
• Eight athletes or fewer: each athlete has six trials. An athlete with no valid trial in the first three rounds competes in later rounds before those with valid trials, in the same relative order as the original draw.
• Later rounds: the competing order for subsequent rounds is the reverse of the ranking after the first three rounds, unless the applicable regulations provide otherwise. Athletes tied for a position keep their original draw order.
• One trial per round: no athlete has more than one trial recorded in any one round of trials.
• Out of order: if an athlete chooses to take a trial in a different order from that determined, Technical Rules 7.1 and 7.3 are applied; in the case of a warning, the result of the trial (valid or failure) stands.

Source: World Athletics Technical Rules (C2.1, edition last modified 1 July 2026), Rule 25.

The time starts when the official responsible indicates that all is ready for the trial. The times below must not be exceeded, otherwise the trial is recorded as a failure (unless the Referee decides otherwise under the rule on delays):

In combined events, a single remaining athlete has 2 minutes in the high jump and 3 minutes in the pole vault. For consecutive trials the time is 2 minutes (high jump), 3 minutes (pole vault) and 2 minutes (other events).

• A trial that has already started when the time elapses should not be disallowed.
• A clock showing the remaining time should be visible to the athlete, and an official normally raises and keeps raised a yellow flag during the final 15 seconds.
• For the pole vault, the time begins when the crossbar has been adjusted to the athlete's wishes.

Source: World Athletics Technical Rules (C2.1, edition last modified 1 July 2026), Rule 25.17.

• Horizontal jumps and throws: distances are recorded to the nearest 0.01m below the distance measured if the distance is not a whole centimetre.
• When: the measurement of each jump or throw is made immediately after each valid trial (or after an immediate oral protest).
• Jumps: measured from the nearest break in the landing area made by any part of the body, or anything attached to the body at the time.
• Recording: except in the high jump and pole vault, a valid trial is indicated by the measurement taken.
• National championships: at Athletics Canada U16, U18, U20 and Open National Championships, an electronic device such as a laptop is mandatory for ranking athletes in the throws and horizontal jumps.

Sources: World Athletics Technical Rules (C2.1, edition last modified 1 July 2026); Athletics Canada Technical Rules, December 2025, Rule 095.

• Time limit: a protest about the result or conduct of an event (or round) must be made within 30 minutes of the official announcement of that result. Organisers must record the time the result was announced.
• Who and how: the protest is made orally to the Referee by an athlete, someone acting for them, or an official team representative, and only by someone competing in the same round. The Referee may decide it or refer it to the Jury of Appeal, and a Referee's decision can be appealed to the Jury.
• Athlete status: a protest about an athlete's status to compete must be made before the competition to the Technical Delegate(s). If it cannot be settled, the athlete may compete "under protest".
• False start protest: after an immediate oral protest against a false start charge, the Start Referee may, if in any doubt, let the athlete compete "under protest" (a red and white diagonally halved card is shown). This is not allowed when a World Athletics certified Start Information System indicated the false start, unless the Referee decides the system information is obviously inaccurate.
• Deposit: in any Canadian competition, a protest must be accompanied by an appeal deposit of $50.00 in Canadian funds.

Sources: World Athletics Competition and Technical Rules (C1.1 and C2.1, edition last modified 1 July 2026), Rule 8 of the Technical Rules; Athletics Canada Technical Rules, December 2025.