In this article, we examine the publicly available transgender inclusion policies of 53 Canadian National Sport Organizations (NSOs) in 2019. At the time of the study, only 17 of the 53 NSOs had policies specifically related to transgender inclusion. However, where these policies exist, they vary in their approaches to inclusion of transgender persons. This article examines how Canadian sport policies prohibit and/or police transgender persons’ participation in sport.

We reviewed these policies to understand the varying approaches to transgender inclusion in Canadian NSOs. We classified the NSOs into three broad categories: inclusive (n = 11), problematic (n = 1) and prejudicial (n = 5), in relation to naming, disclosure and medical specifications.

Using Judith Butler’s concept of precarity, we demonstrate that participation in sport is a precarious choice for transgender athletes, as most NSO policies lacked clear guidance on inclusion and there were next to no policy statements on gender non-conforming people. The development of inclusive policy within sport should be proactive, actionable, consistent with best practices and must include meaningful conversations with transgender and gender non-conforming athletes, coaches and officials.

This research was supported by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and by Egale Canada Human Rights Trust.

This paper was co-authored with William Bridel (corresponding author), Dennis Quesnel, Connor MacDonald & Jordan Zacher.