Mission statement

To lead and empower our Members to develop excellence, participation and enjoyment of archery in Canada.

Vision statement

Through strong collaborative partnerships, sound professional management, and creation of an organization-wide culture of excellence, Canada is a nation of archers and consistent podium contenders.

The vision and mission statement will be accomplished in line with the Charter of Roles and Responsibilities.

Values         

Archery Canada has identified and defined a core set of values that guide our decisions and strengthen our relationships:

• Professionalism – We treat everyone with equity, embracing best and safe practices, leading by example and making informed decisions that reflect the realities and needs of our sport system.
• Community – We recognize in our actions and decisions that together we make a difference
• Resourcefulness – We are a small organization that does more with less through the ingenuity, expertise and dedication of our volunteers and staff
• Transparency – We are open and inclusive about the actions and decisions we take, disclosing where we can and communicating when we can’t.
• Upholding the principles of True Sport – The True Sport Principles express an approach to sport that the vast majority of Canadians already believe in and practice and Archery Canada believes they are universal to all sport including archery at all levels.

Archery Canada serves a number of stakeholders. The organization is committed to working in close alignment with its provincial and territorial partners to deliver world-class programs and services to athletes, coaches, and officials. Over 8,000 archers are registered with AC through one of 9 Provincial and 2 Territorial Member organizations, with close to 8,000 more who participate at a program in one of the registered clubs as a guest. 

All Archery Canada affiliated archery clubs are members of their PTSO. These clubs uphold the values of Archery Canada and its Members and adhere to the best practices of safe sport and professional development of coaches and officials. 

Archery Canada is recognized by Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympic Association, Pan American Games Committee, Commonwealth Games, Canadian Paralympic Committee, World Archery and the International Field Archery Association (IFAA). Archery Canada oversees the technical regulations and rules for the Canada Games and organizes national championships in Indoor Target Archery, Outdoor Target Archery, Field Archery, Indoor and Outdoor 3D Archery, as well as ASA.

The National Office of Archery Canada, in partnership with its Member provincial and territorial archery organizations, provides a number of core services and programs to its members, in carrying out its mission. In addition, the National Office often plays a leadership role in advancing the sport of archery both domestically and internationally.

Some of the key activities and programs of Archery Canada include:

• Promote safety by establishing and promoting minimum standards and recommended procedures for archery activities
• Develop High Performance programs, strategy and procedures to develop and select teams to represent Canada internationally
• Develop and update the NCCP Coach education programs for use across Canada
• Develop programs to improve the skill and technical knowledge of archers, coaches, managers, trainers and officials in Canada.
• Promote the sport of archery in Canada through its Members and to the public at large.
• Organize Regional and National Tournaments, Championships and Virtual competitions (Mailmatch)
• Provide a mechanism for the recognition of national and world records and maintains a record of such for all target rounds and field rounds
• Provide a national tournament registration and scoring platform for registrant clubs 
• Obtains and directs financial support to high performance able bodied athlete and paralympic programs and activities benefiting archers across Canada
• Provides financial assistance for Provincial Sport Governing bodies for coaching and for delegate attendance at board and Annual General Meetings

Archery is a historied sport in Canada with the first evidence of organised archery games being held in 1864, and even before then with archery games played by Indigenous peoples. The Canadian Archery Association was established in 1927 where it aimed to “Encourage archery by the formation of clubs, the holding of tournaments and other such methods as may seem advisable and proper.” Though the organisation and sport have changed and evolved over the years, the same core values that were held in 1927 are still represented in our focus at Archery Canada today.

The name was changed in the mid-sixties to the Federation of Canadian Archers (FCA) and at that time the FCA was recognized by the federal organization that was the pre-cursor of Sport Canada. The FCA was incorporated in 1972. For many years there was very little nationally organized tournament archery outside of Ontario. In the late 40’s a group of Ontario archers began shooting in a tournament organized for the Canadian National Exhibition. Few archers from outside Ontario competed, but it was recognized as a Canadian Championship. Archers were active in most provinces, however travel was limited and few participated outside their own region. 

Most of the first tournaments were held regionally but there were a few national tournaments drawing as many participants as  could attend. Archers from across Canada attended national outdoor championships in target and field archery since the mid-fifties, national indoor tournaments were not held regularly until the late sixties. These indoor tournaments were held every 2 years for many years. In 1980 the last national centralized (single-site) Canadian Indoor Championship was held in Gimli, Manitoba. In 1983, the first Canadian Regional (multi-site) Indoor Championship was held. This tournament now boasts over 500 competitors yearly competing at over 20 sites across the country. 

Archery Canada in Canada recognized 3D archery in 1991 with the first Canadian 3D championships being held in Sherwood Park Alberta in 1993.