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Written by Doug Schneider Doug Schneider

Created: 01 January 2012 01 January 2012

On December 1, the Canadian fitness scene was rocked by a revelation: a brand-new organization called Physique Canada was announced. Physique Canada is the nation’s newest physique organization that will promote events for men and women. The first competition, the Physique Canada National Classic, will be held on June 16, 2012.

The announcement surprised most people, but it didn’t surprise me – I’m part of a three-person team behind this new organization. The planning and development of the infrastructure for Physique Canada began in November, 2011. The other two people involved are Brian Robitaille and Steve Duperré.

Brian is a former two-time Canadian bodybuilding champion who represented Canada internationally in 2000, and he is also a successful competition promoter and organizer. Brian was last seen spearheading the drug-testing program for the IDFA, at the time the most exhaustive and stringent drug-testing program ever implemented in a Canadian physique organization.

Steve is also a successful athlete, competing for about 15 years and earning pro status in the IDFA in 2011. He was also involved with the IDFA and was instrumental in implementing that organization’s current judging standards. Steve has over a decade and a half of judging expertise, many of those years at the head judge level. Steve is also a contributor for SeriousAboutMuscle.com. What’s also worth noting is that Brian and Steve have been drug free for life, an important thing because Physique Canada is promoting only drug-tested competitions.

My involvement in bodybuilding began in the ‘80s as an enthusiast, but I have been intrinsically involved in the Canadian physique scene for about 12 years. Throughout those 12 years I did a lot of media work with various organizations, including the CBBF, IFBB, and IDFA, and I started a number of online publications and resources, including SeriousAboutMuscle.com.

Brian is Physique Canada’s president, Steve is the secretary, and I am the marketing director. Together we have nearly 50 years of combined experience – and now all three of us are committed to making Physique Canada the best men’s and women’s physique organization in Canada.

Of course, when the announcement about Physique Canada came out there were some people who rightly asked: Do we really need another physique organization in Canada? The answer is a resounding yes! There are several things that Physique Canada offers that are different than the rest.

First, Physique Canada is affiliated with the World Bodybuilding and Physique Sports Federation which has over 90 member countries and is growing. This means that Physique Canada is this country’s only qualifying organization for the WBPF’s annual world championships, something other organizations and their athletes don’t have access to.

Second, for those competitors who don’t want to travel around the world to compete at the international level, Physique Canada will be offering incredible national-level events on our home turf, held in prestigious venues with beautiful stages. Anyone who competes with Physique Canada will be up against the nation’s best in surroundings that are fitting. Physique Canada offers three levels of competitions, with the top level called Tier 1 Elite – the level that the best of the best compete at.

Third, Brian’s expertise in implementing what was the most stringent drug-testing program in the nation at the IDFA will be improved upon even further at Physique Canada. Physique Canada will offer WADA-standardized testing procedures and will use the Olympic lab in Montreal for analysis of samples. Physique Canada will also be the first national-level physique organization to implement out-of-competition random drug testing. Furthermore, based on our research on how many drug tests other organizations conduct, we also believe that Physique Canada will be conducting more in-competition drug tests than anyone. The result of this monumental drug-testing effort is the fairest playing field that Canadian athletes have ever had. When Brian finished implementing the drug-testing program in the IDFA, he declared, “We Will Catch You!” That message is even stronger in Physique Canada.

Another thing is that Physique Canada will offer best-in-class judging standards, which is the main job of Steve Duperré. Steve is currently putting into place the most stringent educational and qualifying system for judges that this country has ever seen. What’s more, Physique Canada will do what no other organization in this country has ever done: publicly disclose individual judge’s score immediately following each event. Individual judges can no longer hide behind the panel they participate on and competitors will no longer wonder how each judge rated them. When it comes to judging, Physique Canada’s mantra is competency, honesty, integrity, and transparency.

Finally, Physique Canada is offering something quite a bit different competitively. They will have men’s bodybuilding, which everyone knows, and what’s being called women’s muscular physique, the discipline most people already know as figure. The reason that it’s not being called figure is because Physique Canada feels that term is not descriptive enough; instead, women’s muscular physique describes the discipline better and will allow better judging feedback when competitors come to ask what they need to do in order to improve. Then there’s the brand-new discipline: women’s athletic physique. No other organization in Canada offers this discipline and the organization feels that once the judging standards for it are understood, women will flock to enter this unique competition. But I’m not going to try to describe women’s athletic physique here; instead, Steve has written an article specifically about women’s athletic physique that will appear on SeriousAboutMuscle.com in the “Steve Speaks Out” column on January 15.

On December 1, 2011, everyone in the Canadian fitness scene was served notice that a new organization had arrived -- Physique Canada. But this isn’t just a new organization; it’s a new kind of organization that will shake up the Canadian fitness scene forever. See www.PhysiqueCanada.ca for more details about Canada’s newest physique organization, and keep checking into SeriousAboutMuscle.com for exclusive coverage of Physique Canada competitions and competitors.

. . . Doug Schneider, Publisher
das@seriousaboutmuscle.com

Doug Schneider is the publisher and chief photographer for SeriousAboutMuscle.com.