Ultimate Canada is a

not-for-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...

that serves as the governing body of the sport of

Ultimate Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album) * ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album) *''Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds *''The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilatio ...

(also known as "Ultimate Frisbee") in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. It runs the

Canadian Ultimate Championships Canadian Ultimate Championships (CUC) is an annual Ultimate Frisbee tournament organised by Ultimate Canada and the player association of the city where the championships are held. Until 2016, all divisions were hosted in the same location. Beginni ...

(CUC) and Canadian University Ultimate Championship (CUUC) series. Canadian Ultimate Championships (CUC) Each August, teams from across the country travel to the

(CUC) to compete for the national title in 7 different divisions: ''mixed'', ''open'', ''women's'', ''junior open'', ''junior women'', ''masters open'' and ''masters women''. Teams compete at this seven-day tournament not only to determine the national champion, but also to determine who will represent Canada at the next world championships. From 2016 to 2019, the mixed divisions were held as a separate event from the remaining divisions. In 2022, the format was changed again with the three Masters divisions at their own event, the three senior divisions at their own event, and the two Junior divisions at their own event. Canadian University Ultimate Championships (CUUC) The CUUC started in 1995 and brings university teams from across the country to compete in the open & the women's division. Each fall Ultimate Canada operates two competitions for university

teams in

: the Canadian University Ultimate Championships (CUUC) and the Canadian Eastern University Ultimate Championships (CEUUC). The CEUUC began in 1998 and brings university teams primarily from

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

and

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

together to compete in the open & the women's division.

History

In 2010, the Toronto Ultimate Club released a documentary film, 30 years in 30 minutes, that traces the club's history as well as the history of

ultimate Frisbee Ultimate, originally known as ultimate Frisbee, is a non-contact team sport played with a frisbee flung by hand. Ultimate was developed in 1968 by AJ Gator in Maplewood, New Jersey. Although ultimate resembles many traditional sports in its ath ...

in Canada. Not far removed from the invention of

ultimate Ultimate or Ultimates may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music Albums * ''Ultimate'' (Jolin Tsai album) * ''Ultimate'' (Pet Shop Boys album) *''Ultimate!'', an album by The Yardbirds *''The Ultimate (Bryan Adams Album)'', a compilatio ...

in the late 1960s,

Ken Westerfield Kenneth Ray Westerfield is a pioneering Frisbee disc player. He is a Hall of Fame inductee in freestyle, ultimate and disc golf, and was also voted top men's player in the 1970-75 Decade Awards. Westerfield produced numerous tournaments, wor ...

and Jim Kenner (the founder and CEO of

Discraft Discraft is a company that originated in 1978 in London, Ontario. It was started by a group of disc sport enthusiasts including Jim Kenner, Gail McColl,Chris and Mary Greenwood and Wallace Kenny. In 1979 Jim and Gail moved to Michigan and started ...

) ran the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships with

guts The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The GI tract contains all the major organs of the digestive system, in humans and ...

disc golf Disc golf, also known as frisbee golf, is a flying disc sport in which players throw a disc at a target; it is played using rules similar to golf. Most disc golf discs are made out of polypropylene plastic, otherwise known as polypropene, which ...

, freestyle,

and individual field events in the early 1970s at the

Canadian National Exhibition The Canadian National Exhibition (CNE), also known as The Exhibition or The Ex, is an annual event that takes place at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, on the third Friday of August leading up to and including Canadian Labour Day, ...

. In 1975, they moved the tournament to the

Toronto Islands The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...

. They also participated in several

Frisbee A frisbee (pronounced ), also called a flying disc or simply a disc, is a gliding toy or sporting item that is generally made of injection-molded plastic and roughly in diameter with a pronounced lip. It is used recreationally and competitive ...

show tours across Canada for

Irwin Toy Irwin Toy Limited was a Canadian distributor and manufacturer of toys. It was Canada's oldest toy company and remained independent and family owned until 2001. History The company began in 1926 as an importer and distributor of dry goods and c ...

(

Wham-O Wham-O Inc. is an American toy company based in Carson, California, United States. It is known for creating and marketing many popular toys for nearly 70 years, including the Hula hoop, Frisbee, Slip 'N Slide, Super Ball, Trac-Ball, Silly S ...

licensee and

distributor for Canada). Each year their show tours would end in Vancouver where they would set up the Vancouver Open Frisbee Championships on

Kitsilano Beach Kitsilano Beach is one of the most popular beaches in Vancouver, especially in the warm summer months. Located at the north edge of the Kitsilano neighbourhood, the beach faces out onto English Bay. Description The beach is home to the longes ...

and

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay. The park borders the neighbourhoods of West End and Coal ...

(1974-1977). This is where Jim Brown, Bill King and John Anthony of freestyle fame made their first competitive appearances. From these championships and the presence of these touring professional

players (Westerfield, Kenner, and Bob Blakely of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

became the hub of

activity in Canada. In the early 1970s,

introduced disc sports including

north of the 49th parallel at the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships in Toronto and by creating the Toronto Ultimate Club (TUC). The Toronto Ultimate Club is one of ultimate's oldest leagues.

lived in the

Beaches A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...

in southeast

, this is where he would set up shop, taking his Frisbees down to the beach on a grassy area next to the boardwalk called Kew Beach and would play with whomever wanted to join him. Four of the original

players,

, Jim Lim, Stuart Godfrey, and Patrick Chartrand and others played a pickup game of ultimate

one afternoon with Westerfield outlining the rules. For this group, it became a regular thing and the group began to grow. In 1979, Westerfield using his local tournament player contact list, started weekly ultimate pick-up games in the

on the same grassy area next to the boardwalk on Wednesday evenings. Christopher Lowcock, introduced to disc sports by his brother Les, became part of this group. Lowcock, Westerfield and the others would recruit more players as they passed by along the boardwalk, Wednesday ultimate pick-up was becoming very popular. In 1980, Westerfield sent team invitations to

Wards Island Randalls Island (sometimes called Randall's Island) and Wards Island are conjoined islands, collectively called Randalls and Wards Islands, in New York County, New York City,

, West End,

North Toronto North Toronto is a former town and informal district located in the northern part of the Old Toronto district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Currently occupying a geographically central location within the city of Toronto, the Town of North Toronto ...

and Westerfield's own team

the Beaches The Beaches (also known as "The Beach") is a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is so named because of its four beaches situated on Lake Ontario. It is located east of downtown within the "Old" City of Toronto. The approximate boundar ...

, to join the Toronto Ultimate League. These were the first four teams with each team taking turns hosting the league games at their home locations. The league starting night was at Kew Beach. These were the very first disc ultimate league games in the city of

, the beginning of the Toronto Ultimate League (Club), and the first ultimate league in Canada. The Toronto Ultimate League developed into the Toronto Ultimate Club (TUC), that now has 3300 active members and over 250 Teams playing the year round. The first

(CUC) were held, for the open division, in Ottawa 1987, produced by Marcus Brady and Brian Guthrie. OCUA subsequently hosted the 1993, 1999, 2002 and 2011 Canadian Ultimate Championships. Canada has been ranked number one in the Ultimate World Rankings several times since 1998 in all the Ultimate Divisions (including Open and Women's) according to the

World Flying Disc Federation The World Flying Disc Federation (WFDF) is the international governing body for flying disc (Frisbee) sports, with responsibility for sanctioning world championship events, establishing uniform rules, setting of standards for and recording of w ...

. In 2013, as a founding partner, the Toronto Ultimate Club presented Canada's first semi-professional

team, the

Toronto Rush The Toronto Rush is a semi-professional ultimate franchise based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Rush joined the American Ultimate Disc League American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America ...

, to the

American Ultimate Disc League American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

(AUDL). They went undefeated 18-0 and won the AUDL Championships. In 2014, the

Montreal Royal The Montreal Matrix were an American Basketball Association team based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The team's first season was in 2005–06 and their home court was the Centre Pierre Charbonneau. The team was known as the Montreal Royal during ...

and the Vancouver Riptide joined the AUDL. In 2015, the

Ottawa Outlaws The Ottawa Outlaws were a professional ultimate franchise based in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. They were members of the Eastern Conference of the American Ultimate Disc League American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to ...

became the fourth Canadian team to compete in the AUDL, of 26 teams in total. In 2015, the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

(IOC) granted full recognition to the

(WFDF) for

flying disc A frisbee (pronounced ), also called a flying disc or simply a disc, is a gliding toy or sporting item that is generally made of injection-molded plastic and roughly in diameter with a pronounced lip. It is used recreationally and competitive ...

sports including

Timeline of National Ultimate Developments in Canada

*1972-1985: Canadian Open Frisbee Championships,

and Vancouver Open Frisbee Championships (1974-1977) introduced

and the beginning of competitive disc sports. *1975: Ultimate is played for the first time at the Canadian Open Frisbee Championships as a showcase event on

. *1980:

League started *1986:

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

and

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

Leagues started *1987: First

- open division only *1987: Winnipeg Ultimate League begun by Jean-Luc Forest and Mike Jones. First full season in 1988 had three teams and roughly 14 people. *1988: MODS (first Provincial Sports Organization) founded *1989: Women's Division added to Nationals *1991: WFDF World Ultimate Club Championships in Toronto *1993: Canadian Ultimate Players Association begins *1994: Juniors Division added to Nationals *1995: Masters Division added to Nationals. First Annual University National Championships - open & women's divisions. *1997: WFDF World Ultimate Club Championships in Vancouver *1998: Team Canada Masters wins first Gold Medal for Canada at Worlds (WUGC) - quickly followed by Gold in Mixed and Open. Since 1998, Canada has been ranked number one in the World, several years in all divisions, by WFDF World Ultimate Ranking. *1999: Mixed Division added to

*2002: First Canadian team to win USAU (UPA) Championship: Furious George (Vancouver) *2008: WFDF World

Championships in

*2010: Canadian Ultimate Players Association changes its name to Ultimate Canada. *2011: Ultimate Canada Hall of Fame is created to honor pioneers, players and leaders in the sport. *2012: Junior Division at CUC splits from Mixed into Junior Open and Junior Women's Divisions. *2013: The Junior Open and Junior Women's divisions at CUC split away from the adult events competition turning CUC into a 7-day tournament. *2013: As a founding partner, the Toronto Ultimate Club presented Canada's first semi-professional

team, the

, to the

(AUDL). *2015: WFDF World Ultimate Rankings by country. Canada is ranked number 2 out of 44 countries. *2015: The

(IOC) granted full recognition to the

(WFDF), (of which Ultimate Canada is a member) for

sports including

Toronto Ultimate Club

The Toronto Ultimate Club was founded in 1980. It is Canada's oldest ultimate league with teams participating every season, on most days of the week and on various fields (indoor and outdoor) throughout the year. It is a not-for-profit organization that was incorporated in 1995. The club consists of three full-time managers, a strong board of directors which represent the membership, and over 100 volunteers.

London Ultimate Club

London Ultimate Club (LUC) is a growing league in

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximate ...

. The club was founded in 1998 and incorporated as a not for profit in 2008. The club runs outdoor leagues in the summer and indoor leagues in fall and winter.

Ottawa Carleton Ultimate Association

is popular in

Ottawa, Ontario Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

. OCUA is currently one of the two largest leagues in

(alongside the

Ultimate League), and for a time was the largest ultimate league in the world—in 2004, there were 354 teams in the summer league and approximately 5000 members.

Vancouver Ultimate League

The Vancouver Ultimate League has around 5300 active members who play throughout the year. Its primary focus is recreational play. It also hosts clinics and introductory programs for new players, and supports a number of elite club teams who compete in provincial, national and international championships.

Calgary Ultimate Association

Founded in 2004, the CUA coordinates year-round leagues, annual tournaments, a growing juniors program, and outreach efforts to promote the sport of ultimate frisbee within

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

and surrounding areas. Each year in June the CUA hosts the annual Ho-Down and Slo-Down tournament that draws more than 30 teams from across

Western Canada Western Canada, also referred to as the Western provinces, Canadian West or the Western provinces of Canada, and commonly known within Canada as the West, is a Canadian region that includes the four western provinces just north of the Canada� ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Calgary Juniors Ultimate hosts an annual tournament and youth league.

Windsor Ultimate

Windsor Ultimate in

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

since 2007. In 2010, Windsor Ultimate officially became a non-profit entity in the province of

, this move allowed the organization to better situate itself as a legitimate sports league in

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a primary region of the province of Ontario, Canada, the other primary region being Northern Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada. The exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disp ...

Montreal Ultimate

The Montreal Ultimate Association has enjoyed incredible growth and has become one of the largest Ultimate associations in Canada. Although the sport first came to Montreal in 1984, the 1993 season truly signalled the start of an Ultimate league that eventually became the association we know today. In 1997, players felt the need to create a non-profit organisation that they called Association de Ultimate de Montréal.

Canadian Ultimate Hall of Fame

Hall of Fame Inductees 2011 was the inaugural year. Ultimate Canada created the Hall of Fame in order to recognize contribution from pioneers in the sport. Builders * Lorne Beckman (2011) * Brian Gisel (2011) * John Harris (2011) * Scott Lewis (2011) * Chris Lowcock (2011) *

(2011) * Dean Wright (2011) * Jim Brown (2013) * Jeff Malmgren (2014) * Donnie McPhee (2016) Players * Adam "Elvis" Berson (2011) * Grant Burns (2011) * Jen Catalano (2011) * Anja Haman (2011) * Steev Limin (2011) * Al "Al-Bob" Nichols (2011) * Gillian Scarfe (2011) * Dante Anderson (2012) * Andrew Lugsdin (2012) * Leslie Calder (2013) * Alex Hughes (2014) * Monica Kerr-Coster (2014) * Cheryl Claibourne (2016) * Jeff Cruickshank (2017) * Kirk Savage (2017) * Evan Wood (2018) Teams * GOO/Prime (2011) * Furious George (2011) * See Jane Run (2012) * Nomads (2013) * Chaos (2014) * The Calgary Cynics (2016) * Masters of Flying Objects (MOFO) (2017) Founders * Marcus Brady (2011) * Brian Guthrie (2011) * Keith Whyte (2011)

Leagues and Associations

Saskatchewan''
Saskatoon Ultimate Disc-sport Society
Saskatoon, SK Alberta
Calgary Ultimate Association
Calgary, AB
Edmonton Ultimate Players Association
Edmonton, AB British Columbia
Vancouver Ultimate League
Vancouver, BC
Victoria Ultimate Players Society
Victoria, BC
Kamloops Ultimate League Society
Kamloops, BC Manitoba

Winnipeg, MB Nova Scotia
Halifax Ultimate Recreational League
Halifax, NS Ontario
Ottawa-Carleton Ultimate Association
Ottawa, ON
Toronto Ultimate Club
Toronto, ON
Sudbury Ultimate Club
Sudbury, ON
Kingston Ultimate
Kingston, ON
Guelph Ultimate Players Association
Guelph, ON
Waterloo Disc Sports
Waterloo Region, ON
London Ultimate Club
London, ON
Windsor Ultimate
Windsor, ON
Durham Ultimate Club
Durham, ON
Peterborough Ultimate League
Peterborough, ON Quebec
Fédération québécoise d'ultimate
PQ
Association d'Ultimate de Sherbrooke
Sherbrooke, PQ
UltimAction, Pour une relève du ultimate
PQ
Ultimate PQ, Le film
PQ Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan Ultimate Players Association
SK
Saskatoon Ultimate Disc-Sport Society
Saskatoon,SK
Regina Ultimate Flying Disc Club
Regina, SK Newfoundland and Labrador
Ultimate Newfoundland and Labrador
NL
Men's Avalon Ultimate League
St. John's, NL
St. John's Women's Ultimate Recreation League
St. John's, NL
Mile Zero Ultimate
St. John's, NL

Books on ultimate and disc sports

* Palmeri, Jim; A Chain of Events, The Origin & Evolution of Disc Golf Paperback, Unabridged (2015); * Leonardo,Tony and Zagoria, Adam co-authore
"Ultimate: The First Four Decades,"
publ. by Ultimate History, Inc., 2005, * Tips, Charles

Celestial Arts, Millbrae, California (March 1977); * Stancil, E. D., and Johnson, M.D

Workman Publishing Company, New York (July 1975);

References

{{Sports governing bodies of Canada

Ultimate (sport) governing bodies Articles containing video clips