FISU World University Games

Staged every two years in a different city, the FISU World University Games are a celebration of international university sports and culture. With several thousand student-athletes competing in each event edition, the FISU World University Games is among the world’s largest and most prestigious multi-sports competition.

Embracing FISU’s motto of ‘Excellence in Mind and Body,’ the FISU World University Games incorporate an educational aspect into the sports competitions which allows university student-athletes to celebrate high sports performance while continuing their education with the local host city.

The 11 to 12-day competition programme includes nine compulsory sports at every winter edition and fifteen at every summer edition of the FISU World University Games. To stay on the leading edge of sport delivery and innovation, organising committees can also include up to three optional sports from the FISU Recognised Sports for inclusion in their edition of the FISU World University Games.

U SPORTS is the franchise holder of the International University Sports Federation (FISU) in Canada and is responsible for the coordination and entry of the Canadian team in both the Summer and Winter FISU World University Games. Every two years, Canadian delegations are sent to Summer and Winter FISU World University Games supported by a Canadian Mission Team composed of experienced sport leaders and medical staff from across the country.

Click here for list of each FISU World University Games.

FISU Summer World University Games

A FISU member since 1965, Canada has participated in in 28 of 32 Summer World University Games, with the exception of 1959 (Turin, Italy), 1961 (Sofia, Bulgaria), 1963 (Porto Alegre, Brazil) and 2023 (Chengdu, China).

Medalists | Complete Statistics

Year	Location	Chef de Mission	Canadian Athletes	Total Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
2025	Rhine-Ruhr, Germany	Karla Karch, Mount Royal	125	9,047	2	1	8	11
2023	Chengdu, China	N/A	N/A	N/A	Did not Participate
2021	Chegdu, China	N/A	N/A	N/A	Postponed to 2023 due to COVID-19 Pandemic
2019	Naples, Italy	Ari Grossman Waterloo	221	8,509	1	1	4	6
2017	Taipei City, Chinese Taipei	Darren Cates RMC	274	10,792	4	5	4	13
2015	Gwangju, South Korea	Gilles Lépine Laval	235	10,822	2	4	2	8
2013	Kazan, Russia	Theresa Hanson UBC	307	11,759	4	5	9	18
2011	Shenzhen, China	Peter Baxter Laurier	245	10,624	0	5	3	8
2009	Belgrade, Serbia	Drew Love McGill	209	8,166	2	7	6	15
2007	Bangkok, Thailand	Gilles Lépine Laval	207	9,006	5	3	8	16
2005	Izmir, Turkey	Pat Murray, York	198	7,844	3	6	3	12
2003	Daegu, South Korea	Dr. Joanne MacLean, Brock	138	6,643	0	1	2	3
2001	Beijing, China	Kim Gordon, UBC	154	6,757	0	2	0	2
1999	Palma/Mallorca, Spain	Bob Dubeau McGill	147	6,009	1	3	6	10
1997	Sicily, Italy	Bob Boucher Windsor	102	5,286	0	4	4	8
1995	Fukuoka, Japan	Elaine Harvey Laval	165	5,740	0	1	2	3
1993	Buffalo, USA*	Harry Zairns Concordia	262	5,105	12	14	14	40
1991	Sheffield, Great Brittain	Wally Delahey Waterloo	182	4,622	3	5	11	19
1989	Duisbourg, Germany	Leroy Washburn St. Thomas	73	2,619	0	3	2	5
1987	Zagreb, Croatia	Unknown	187	5,575	0	2	5	7
1985	Kobe, Japan	Unknown	173	3,945	0	6	8	14
1983	Edmonton, Canada	Bob Dubeau McGill	229	3453	10	10	18	38
1981	Bucharest, Romania	Unknown	106	4,369	0	3	2	5
1979	Mexico City, Mexico	Unknown	131	4,381	0	0	3	3
1977	Sofia, Bulgaria	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	4	5	5	14
1975	Rome, Italy	Unknown	21	617	1	5	2	8
1973	Moscow, Russia	Unknown	101	2,356	0	2	5	7
1970	Turin, Italy	Unknown	74	2,808	0	0	1	1
1967	Tokyo, Japan	Unknown	23	1,272	0	2	0	2
1965	Budapest, Hungary	Unknown	10	713	1	0	3	4
Total			4,299	158,839	55	105	140	300

*1993 - Women's Soccer and Rowing were hosted in Canada in Hamilton and St. Catherines, Ont.

FISU Winter World University Games

A FISU member since 1965, Canada has participated in 27 of 32 Winter World University Games, with the exception of 1960 (Chamonix, France), 1962 (Villars, Switzerland), 1970 (Rova Niemi, Finland), 1975 (Livigno, Italy) and 2021 (Lucerne, Switzerland)

Medalists | Complete Statistics

Year	Location	Chef de Mission	Canadian athletes	Total Athletes	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
2025	Torino, Italy	Julie Dionne Laval	121	1,503	1	2	6	9
2023	Lake Placid, USA	Ben Matchett Calgary	119	1,417	6	1	6	13
2021	Lucerne, Switzerland	N/A	N/A	N/A	Cancelled due to COVID-19 Pandemic
2019	Krasnoyarsk, Russia	Roger Archambault Ottawa	87	1,692	1	2	2	5
2017	Almaty, Kazakhstan	Ari Grossman Waterloo	88	1,620	1	1	1	3
2015	Granada, Spain*	Darren Cates RMC	84	1,546	0	2	3	5
2013	Trentino, Italy	Gord Grace CIS	108	1,698	1	3	3	7
2011	Erzurum, Turkey	Beth Ali Toronto	102	1,593	1	3	1	5
2009	Harbin, China	Peter Baxter Laurier	92	1,545	1	4	1	6
2007	Torino, Italy	Don Wilson Calgary	100	1,638	2	1	1	4
2005	Innsbruck, Austria	Dick White Regina	63	1,449	1	0	0	1
2003	Tarvisio, Italy	Drew Love Carleton	81	1,266	2	5	3	10
2001	Zakopane, Poland	Hank Tatarchuk Alberta	77	1,007	0	1	0	1
1999	Poprad-Tatry. Slovakia	Harry Zairns Concordia	69	929	1	2	1	4
1997	Muju-Chonju, South Korea	Karin Lofstrum CIAU	54	877	0	0	1	1
1995	Jaca, Spain	Jennifer Brenning CIAU	21	765	1	0	2	3
1993	Zakopane, Poland	Jennifer Brenning CIAU	7	668	0	0	0	0
1991	Sapporo, Japan	Darwin Semotiuk Western	7	668	2	0	1	3
1989	Sofia, Bulgaria	Unknown	34	681	0	0	0	0
1987	Strbske Pleso, Czechoslovakia	Unknown	15	596	0	0	1	1
1985	Belluno, Italy	Unknown	28	538	5	5	8	18
1983	Sofia, Bulgaria	Unknown	29	535	0	0	0	0
1981	Jaca, Spain	Unknown	11	394	1	0	0	1
1978	Spinleruv Mlyn, Czechoslovakia	Unknown	21	260	0	0	0	0
1972	Lake Placid, USA	Unknown	5	351	1	1	0	2
1968	Innsbruck, Austria	Unknown	Unknown	424	0	0	1	1
1966	Sestriere, Italy	Unknown	18	434	0	0	0	0
1964	Spinleruv Mlyn, Czechoslovakia	Unknown	17	285	0	0	0	0
Total			1,458	26,379	28	33	42	103

*2015 - Biathlon, cross-country skiing, nordic combined and ski jumping were held in Štrbské Pleso, Slovakia.