Canada Soccer hosted its annual National Referee Camp

Canada Soccer gathered their top referees for the annual National Referee Camp. The two-day camp took place on the 15-16 March in Ottawa, Ontario and signaled the kick-off of the 2024 season.

The annual camp offers an opportunity to measure referees’ physical fitness while also preparing them with the goals and expectations of the program. Additionally, the camp features an award banquet where Canada Soccer celebrates milestones and achievements from the previous year.

“The referees come to Camp looking forward to kicking off the new season, but it’s equally important to take the time to look back and appreciate the many milestones achieved in the previous year,” said Isaac Raymond, Canada Soccer’s Referee Manager.

For the first time, female and male referees from the Elite Development group, led by Michelle Pye and Sébastien Dubé, respectively, joined Canada Soccer National list officials for fitness testing and technical training, while also receiving exclusive content specific to the needs of the programs.

Canada Soccer’s Elite Development Program expands on the NextGen Program launched in 2018. Starting in 2023, the Program now has a focused male and female stream. Referees in the Program are prospects for the National list and receive training, mentoring and education from top referee leaders in Canada to help prepare them to take the next step into officiating professional soccer.

During this year’s awards banquet, new FIFA match officials Pierre-Luc Lauzière (VMO), Filip Dujic (referee) and Gérard-Kader Lebuis (assistant referee) were recognized. Domestically, Canada Soccer awarded National badges to Twayne Anderson, Sheila Couture, Brad Doubrough, Isabelle Duclos, Sebastian Noshinravani, and Camille Raymond. Marie-Soleil Beaudoin, Chantal Boudreau and Myriam Marcotte gave a highly motivating keynote presentation speaking about their experiences at the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

In April, the FIFA Referees Committee appointed three Canadian officials at the upcoming Olympic Football Tournaments in Paris. This marks the first time Drew Fischer (referee), Lyes Arfa (assistant referee), and Micheal Barwegan (assistant referee) will officiate at the Olympic Games, and the first Canadian trio since Carol Anne Chenard, Suzanne Morisset and Marie-Josée officiated the Gold medal game in 2016 (Rio). Chantal Boudreau is the last Canadian match official to officiate an Olympics (2021 Tokyo). The trio has been appointed to the men’s tournament which is scheduled to take place from July 24 to August 9, 2024, with a final also scheduled at the Parc des Princes.

2023 Canada Soccer Referee Accomplishments

• December 2023 | Carol-Anne Chénard, who was the most tenured Canadian Match Official on the FIFA List of Referees and Assistant Referees with 17 years from 2006 to 2023, retired from the FIFA list.

• October 2023 | David Barrie retired his whistle for a development position as Ontario Soccer’s new Match Official Development Manager.

• October 2023 | Canada Soccer assigned an equal number of 36 male and female officials alongside local referees for the 150 Toyota National Championships matches. In all, there were 134 officials appointed to the 2023 Toyota National Championships.

• July 2023 | Marie-Soleil Beaudoin, Chantal Boudreau, Myriam Marcotte, Drew Fischer, and Carol-Anne Chénard were selected as match officials for the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia/New Zealand 2023™

• April 2023 | Canada Soccer hosted an Elite Women’s Referee Development Camp as a continuation of the Federation’s preparation for the anticipated launch of a Women’s Professional Soccer League in Canada. The camp featured 30 Canadian female referees from across eight provinces.

About the Canada Soccer Refereeing Department

Canada Soccer is responsible for the development and training of match officials for amateur and professional competitions in Canada. In partnership with our Provincial and Territorial Associations and sanctioned professional leagues, Canada Soccer provides development and training opportunities to advance to the national list of referees and nominations to the FIFA list.