Insurance Coverage

Alpine Canada Alpin-Canadian Ski Coaches (ACA-CSC) is a division of ACA as of July 1, 2015. ACA is a member of the Canadian Snow Sports Association (CSA). CSA negotiates general liability (including accidental death and disability) insurance coverage on behalf of all its member organizations. This insurance coverage includes all ACA-CSC accredited and licenced coaches (formerly CSCF members) while working for an ACA member club (Exception clubs who are members of SQA) or who are CSC registered coaches taking ACA-CSC approved clinics or courses. Alpine Canada is a named insured.

This policy offers primary coverage and is a first responder in the case of an incident or accident. This policy is underwritten by Lloyds of London.

Who is insured?

All member associations, directors, employees, members & volunteers of the Named Insured, while involved in any activity, as promoted, encouraged, organized, governed, regulated, sanctioned and/or approved by the Canadian Snow Sports Association.

The Named Insured's members, but only for acts within the scope of their accreditation activities as a member of the Named Insured.

Municipalities, government departments, sponsors, organizers, producers and ski hill operations in whose name any Name Insured has agreed to provide insurance, or who are operating (or involved in) the Named Insured's sanctioned events, for the vicarious liability arising out of any activity, as promoted, encouraged, organized, governed, regulated, sanctioned and/or approved by the Named Insured.

CGL Coverage does not apply to member clubs or coaches that are members of SQA since SQA has its own CGL Insurance Program.

What acts are insured?

The policy protects against the risk of sums that ACA or ACA-CSC accredited coaches may become legally obligated to pay as a result of bodily injury and/or property damage caused while participating in activities approved by ACA/CSA. The coverage includes the cost of investigating, defending, and paying for any claim for injury or damage attributed to negligence on the part of ACA or an ACA-CSC accredited coach or an authorized person acting on behalf of ACA/CSA.

What is the primary scope of coaching activity where insurance coverage applies?

• Coverage APPLIES when registered and participating in any ACA-CSC sanctioned course, seminar, module, camp, evaluation, indoor or on snow, organized by or on behalf of ACA-CSC as a volunteer or paid facilitator or evaluator at these events.
• Coverage APPLIES when licensed and working at the normal duties of a ski coach ,at their accredited certification level, in a program that is approved by Alpine Canada Alpin (ACA) and/or the CSA. This includes programs approved/sanctioned by ACA and operated by any PSO member clubs. (Exception member clubs of SQA) Coverage is worldwide. If a member coach is working in a program outside of an ACA or PSO approved program, coverage does NOT APPLY.

What other considerations affect whether ACA-CSC members are covered?

• ACA-CSC Registration Fees Annual ACA-CSC registration fees must be paid in advance of the incident or accident; otherwise coverage does NOT apply.
• Private Coaching Coverage does NOT apply for ACA-CSC members working in a private or freelance coaching capacity that is not explicitly approved by ACA or ACA-CSC and/or CSA, and does not apply while working for SQA or an SQA member club.
• ACA-CSC Registered Coach Categories The registered coachs' ACA-CSC registration category must be either “Regular” or “Affiliate” or “Honorary/Life”. ACA-CSC registered coaches who are designated as “25 year” registered coaches are considered "Regular" registered coaches. Coverage does NOT apply to “Associate” registered coaches.
• The Coach in Training is a licensing program only. 
• Ski and Snowboard Instructors Coverage does NOT apply to ACA-CSC registered coaches who, at the time of the incident or accident, are working as a ski or snowboard instructor teaching skiing or snowboarding in a program that is not approved by ACA-CSC-CSA or Alpine Canada/CSA for insurance coverage purposes. In these cases, dual ACA-CSC/CSIA or ACA-CSC/CASI members fall under either the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance liability coverage for members or the Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors liability coverage for members, respectively.

Reporting Incidents 

If, during a sanctioned activity, there is a significant or unusal injury to any person, or if there is any other form of incident that may have liability consequences, a notice of incident must be filed immediately. The notice of incident should be filed with the CSA's insurance broker, Marsh Canada Limited, with copies to national (NSO) office and CSA. 

An incident report should be submitted immediately using the CSA Incident Reporting form for: 

• Any injury to member of the public which occur either through contact with CSA/ACA members in training or competition or while on a closed course used for training or competition or where they are encounter club or ROC equipment. 
• Any injury requiring hospitalization to any member of a CSA discipline (ACA member club), ROC, volunteers involved in any club program or activity. 
• Any damage to property owned by others arising out of club or program activity. 

Complete the form found in Appendix C of the Canadian Snowsports Association (CSA) Handbook and email or fax a copy of incident to all three key contacts:

Canadian Snowsports Association c/o David Pym  Suite 265, 1177 West Broadway Vancouver, BC  V6H 1G3 Email: dpym@isrm.com Tel: 604-734-6800 Fax: 604-669-7954

Marsh Canada Limited  c/o Will Dear and Susanne Schurer 800-550 Burrard Street  Vancouver, BC  V6C 2K1 Email: William.Dear@marsh.com Email:Susanne.Schurer@marsh.com Direct Phone: 604-640-4251 (Will Dear)  Fax: 604-682-3520

Discipline Office - Alpine Canada Alpin c/o Domestic Sport Services  Suite 302, 151 Canada Olympic Road SW Calgary, AB T4B 3A5 Email: aavoledo@alpinecanada.org  Tel: 403-777-3217

Annual Registration & Licensing Fees

You will find there is an increase to membership fees for this 2022-2023 season. This is due in large part to the re allocation of CGL insurance across all registrant categories and the associated risk assessment across said categories.  Safety is paramount for our members and ensuring you as ACA Coach members have the appropriate protection is of utmost importance.. If you are an ACA-CSC registered coach only, you can pay your annual fees by logging in to your coach profile page on the ACA Snowreg Interpodia platform.

Coaches who are also a member with the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance (CSIA) and/or the Canadian Association of Snowboard Instructors (CASI) will benefit from dual and triple license fee reductions as viewed below.

To obtain the fee reductions, dual and triple CSIA members must pay their annual dues through their CSIA member profile page at www.snowpro.com. 

We encourage all coaches to pay registration and licensing fees on line.

Payment of annual registration fees is dependent upon the type of registration

• ACA-CSC registered coach and all Coaches in Training(CIT): Renew registration on ACA SnowReg Interpodia platform 
• CSIA/CASI/CADS including ACA-CSC dual and triple members: Renew membership on www.snowpro.com

*The  portion of registration fees sent to ACA represents the gross amount due to ACA-CSC for registration and licensing fees and does not include fees paid to CSIA  for processing and the collection of taxes. See the registration fee schedule from CSIA for more information below. 

**Coach in Training license year one (1) covers the cost of introduction to ski coaching courses and their season licenses only for the CIT Supporting the Coachin Staff and CIT CSIA Exsiting Member License ($65.00). Cost in year two (2) equals the licensing fee for volunteer/non-CSIA members, CIT Supporting the Coaching Staff ($25.00). CSIA instructors are not eligible in year two (2) for the CIT licensing  program, they must attain the Entry Level Trained accreditation status. 

*** New entry level coaches who have completed and passed their course will not need to pay dues until the following season. However, a new Entry Level coach must complete all other licensing activities to be licensed in the current season (year) they gained their accreditation of Entry Level Trained to be eligible to work with athletes on-snow in a club program. 

Registration & Licensing Benefits

ACA-CSC licensed registered coaches can take advantage of a range of programs and services:

• NCCP certification programs and recognition
• Professional development programs and licensing recognition
• Tax receipting for all ACA-CSC courses and seminars
• Third party liability insurance coverage (While working for ACA member Club (Excludes SQA), or attending any ACA-CSC Course
• Accident and disability insurance coverage (While working for ACA member Club (Excludes SQA), or attending any ACA-CSC Course
• Professional Code of Conduct regulation as a condition of registration
• Discounts on coaching resources
• Periodic communications annually, including monthly bulletins during the fall and winter

Criminal Background Screening

As part of Alpine Canada Alpin's (ACA) Safe Sport initiatives, mandatory criminal background screening has been implemented to enhance the safety of the training and competition environments for all athletes in our sport, PTSOs and club programs. 

Conducting criminal background screening with ACA-CSC, Canadian ski coaches assists in the selection of safe, honest and ethical individuals reducing the potential risks to athletes and employers. 

Policy Statement

Alpine Canada Coach Education as a department within ACA, mandated the application of this policy to all ACA-CSC accredited coaches as of the 2017 - 2018 season. To ensure consistency, ACA has engaged Sterling BackCheck to undertake the formal screening process. 

Criminal background Record Checks

• Criminal background record checks are valid for two (2) years/seasons.  
• All Criminal record checks must be valid for the entire season at the time of dues payment and renewal.
• Coaches will be required to complete a new criminal background check at the time of registration renewal if the criminal record check will not be valid for the entire season, i.e., 2020 - 2021 season. 

Where to obtain your criminal record check

ACA and SnowReg Interpodia are partnered with Sterling BackCheck to provide a police background check service. ACA would like ALL active coaches to use this service to expedite the processing of a coaches annual license. Please note this service does take 48 hours to process electronically before being transferred to your ACA-CSC coach profile for licensing. 

The cost for this service is offered at a discounted rate of $25.00 (plus taxes) and can be paid for during annual dues renewal in the ACA SnowReg Interpodia platform. 

To complete a Sterling Criminal Background screening, coaches can also visit: https://snowreg.com/#!/memberships/aca-canadian-ski-coaches-20202021/background-check/1

Access to Results

Coaches will be notified by email from Sterling BackCheck of their results within 48 hours. In addition, ACA will receive a copy of the results. 

Results of the criminal record check will be recorded in the ACA- Canadian Ski Coaches (ACA-CSC) database and will be made available to club and PTSO employers of professional and volunteer coaches working in ski racing programs across Canada. Employer access is provide through the ACA SnowReg Interpodia platform club and PTSO portal. Only recognized organizations, PTSO and Club Admins, who have completed a confidentiality agreement are permitted access. 

ACA-CSC Safe Sport Screening Policy