Competition and participation classes

IOF Championship and WRE Classes

The Canadian Championships Middle and Western Canadian Championships Middle events are official WRE events (World Ranking Events) for the following classes:

• M21 and F21

Notes for WRE Classes:

• Courses will follow IOF guidelines for difficulty and recommended winning time
• Gender classes shall be as defined by the IOF
• Only participants with an IOF ID will be eligible for official placing in any of the above classes; to obtain an IOF ID, (there is no fee) sign up online at IOF Eventor

For more details on the WRE events please see our WRE page.

Age Class Championships

There are age class championships for all age groups (2 year age groups for 20 and under, 10 year age groups for 35 to 75, 5 year age groups for 75 and over) at the festival. There is an F and M class for each age class.

Junior classes:	10-, 12-, 14-, 16-, 18-, 20-
Senior class:	21
Masters classes:	35+, 45+, 55+, 65+, 75+, 80+, 85+, 90+

Notes for COC and WCOC championship age classes:

• Courses will follow Orienteering Canada guidelines for courses and categories
• For the WRE events, IOF rules will be followed for the elite categories.

Medal Eligibility

For Canadian Championship events:

• Medal winners of the Canadian Championships must be full members of a provincial/territorial association; and (a) Canadian citizens; or (b) permanent residents as defined by Citizenship and Immigration Canada.

For Western Canadian Championship classes:

• WCOC medal winners must be full members of a Western Canadian provincial/territorial association and residents of western Canada who have lived in one of the western Provinces for the past 6 months (BC, AB, MB, SK, YT).

Non-Competitive Classes

For participants wanting a course outside their age class, there are recreational (non-competitive) options (and no awards).

• Open classes allow participants to choose the course they wish to be on. You can choose a course appropriate to your orienteering skill-set and physical fitness.
  • Middle –
    • Open 1 – Beginner
    • Open 2 – Novice
    • Open 3 – Intermediate
    • Open 4 – Intermediate / Advanced
    • Open 5 – Short expert, less physical
    • Open 6 – Expert
  • Long –
    • Open 1 – Beginner
    • Open 2 – Novice
    • Open 3 – Intermediate
    • Open 4 – Intermediate / Advanced
    • Open 5 – Short expert, less physical
    • Open 6 – Expert
    • Open 9 – Long Expert
  • Sprint –
    • Open 1 – Beginner / Novice
    • Open 2 – Intermediate
    • Open 3 – Short Expert
    • Open 4 – Expert

Recommended Winning Times and Technical Difficulty

Since the terrain for orienteering courses, and the speed at which the terrain can be traversed, varies significantly from event to event, instead of using distance guidelines for setting courses, a Recommended Winning Time (RWT) is used. Courses will be shorter on slower terrain (thicker forest, more hills) so that winning times remain relatively consistent for a given age class. The recommended winning times are indicated in the table below for the Middle and Long distance events.

Orienteering Canada has set 5 Technical Difficulty (TD) levels for orienteering courses.

• TD Level 1 is “Beginner”‘
• TD Level 2 is “Novice”
• TD Level 3 is “Intermediate”
• TD Level 4 is “Veteran”
• TD Level 5 is “Expert and Elite”

The table below shows the TD levels for the Middle and Long distance events.

​	Middle RWT	Long RWT	TD Level
M10-, F10-	20-25	30-35	1
M12-, F12-	20-25	30-35	2
M14-, F14-	20-25	30-35	3
M16-, F16-	25-30	50-55	3
M18-, F18-	30-35	55-60	5
M20-, F20-	30-35	90-100 / 55-60	5
M21, F21	30-35	90-100	5
M35+, F35+	30-35	90-100 / 55-60	5
M45+, F45+	30-35	55-60 / 50-55	5
M55+, F55+	30-35	55-60 / 50-55	5
M65+, F65+	30-35	50-55	5
M75+, F75+	30-35	45-50	4
M80+, F80+	30-35	45-50	4
85+, F85+	30-35	45-50	4
M90+, F90+	30-35	45-50	4

For Sprint events the recommended winning time is 12 to 15 minutes for all classes, the TD level is 3 for all classes

The above information is all from Orienteering Canada’s Course and Class Guidelines.