Rugby Canada continues to consolidate more of its resources in Langford with the announcement Monday that many of its corporate operations are being shifted from its other offices in Richmond Hill, Ont.
Most of the national-team players, in both sevens and XVs, are centralized at the Rugby Canada Centre of Excellence in Langford and it was thought to make more sense to have more business operations there as well.
“It is more operationally efficient to have all the braintrust together under one roof,” said Allen Vansen, CEO of Rugby Canada, as he prepared to board a flight in Toronto for Victoria on Monday for meetings.
“We will have more of our structures and business functions aligned.”
Rugby Canada’s finance, marketing and communications, general operations and governance departments will relocate to Langford. Positions being established in Langford include chief operating officer, director of communications and marketing, director of finance, and finance co-ordinators. Six people will be losing their positions in Richmond Hill. Vansen thanked them for their service.
“This marks the beginning of a new era for Rugby Canada, as one of Canada’s fastest growing sports. While always difficult to reach these tough decisions, this is the best path forward to reach our organization’s performance and growth objectives,” he said.
The Rugby Canada offices are located behind Westhills Stadium. The adjacent $7.9-million Al Charron National Training Centre indoor facility has been under construction since last fall and is nearing completion.
“It will open in the new year and we are very excited about that,” said Vansen.
Part of Monday’s announcement was that Jim Dixon, general-manager of rugby operations and performance for Rugby Canada since April of 2015, will not be continuing in that role.
It has been an era of mixed results, highlighted by Canada’s bronze medal in women’s sevens at the 2016 Rio Olympics, but also marked by Canada’s failure to qualify for Rio in men’s sevens and the prolonged slide to 24th in the world in men’s XVs.
“It was not performance related with Jim [Dixon]. Sometimes, you have to make broader changes in leadership,” said Vansen.
Rugby Canada is one of three national sporting federations which have most of their national-team athletes and operations located in Greater Victoria, including Triathlon Canada and Rowing Canada. As well, Swimming Canada, Athletics Canada, Golf Canada, Tennis Canada and Cycling Canada have national-team training centres located on the Lower Island.
