Proposed provincial legislation causes headaches for Alberta university athletics depts
If passed, Bill 29 could impact whether future U Sports championships are held in the province.

The future of postsecondary athletics in Alberta is up in the air following proposed legislation that may restrict trans athletes from competing against cisgender women, despite conflicting evidence on the competitive advantages for such athletes.
In October, the provincial government introduced the Fairness and Safety in Sport Act, also known as Bill 29. If passed, all postsecondary institutions must create athlete eligibility policies, separating trans women from female sport competitions.
The rule would also apply to high school athletes and provincial sport organizations.
U Sports, the governing body for university sport in Canada, was consulted about the bill. It said it would be “difficult” to host championships in Alberta if it can’t apply its own rules, which allow student-athletes to compete under their identified gender.
“We have communicated this to the Alberta government, and U Sports is waiting to see the language of the final bill and what is eventually adopted before determining a course of action,” wrote John Bower, director of marketing and communications, in a statement to University Affairs.
The Alberta bill falls into line with similar ones enacted in half of all U.S. states in recent years. It also comes amid a growing wave of anti-trans sentiment in university sport.
In October, a trans athlete for Vancouver Island University’s women’s basketball team was thrown to the ground by an opposing player. After the game, the opposing team’s head coach said the trans athlete, Hariette MacKenzie, should not be eligible to play.
Roughly one month later, a women’s volleyball team at Boise State University pulled out of its conference tournament, forfeiting its third match of the season against San Jose State University due to a player believed to be transgender on the roster.
Benny Skinner, a human rights activist who was the first openly transgender player and coach in U Sports, said the Alberta bill stems from a lack of understanding about transgender people, a segment of the population that makes up a small proportion of athletes.
“They’re thinking Sonny Bill Williams in a wig,” they said, referring to the legendary former New Zealand professional rugby player and current heavyweight boxer. “That is not what a transgendered woman is.”
One estimate has suggested that among the 55,000 student-athletes that compete in the U.S.-based National Collegiate Athletic Association, fewer than 40 are transgender. U Sports doesn’t track the number of trans athletes that compete among its 15,000 student-athletes.
“The representation of trans athletes is so little,” Mx. Skinner said. “But it’s so polarized, and such a small part of fairness and sport. When we look at equity and sport, the most impactful area we should be re-evaluating is accessibility, especially through socio-economic means.”
Recent scientific evidence paints a complex picture on the issue.
Trans women do have some physical advantages over cisgender women, such as strength, but they also have many disadvantages, said Joanna Harper, a postdoctoral researcher based in the U.S.
Trans women athletes who have received gender affirming care to alter their physical characteristics move a larger body frame with reduced muscle mass and aerobic capacity, which could impact endurance, quickness and recovery.
In 2021, while researching at Loughborough University in the U.K., Dr. Harper co-published a study that found the hemoglobin level in transgender women taking testosterone suppression went from male to female values within three to four months. Hemoglobin carries oxygen from the lungs to the muscles, and plays an important role in endurance sports.
“It is probably the single most important characteristic for endurance,” she said. “You can have big lungs, a big heart, but if you don’t have good hemoglobin values then the hemoglobin doesn’t get to the muscles.”
But it takes longer to see a similar decrease in strength.
The drop may take a couple of years or longer, Dr. Harper said. The wait may be due to muscle memory and the fact that testosterone is a driver of strength.
“Strength will undergo a change that is slower and less dramatic than hemoglobin,” Dr. Harper said. “Trans women will lose strength, but the strength changes certainly won’t be complete in three or four months.”
Her findings are supported by other recent analysis. Earlier this year, a study backed by the International Olympic Committee found trans women had higher handgrip strength but lower lung capacity and cardiovascular fitness than cisgender women.
A report commissioned by the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport also claimed there is no evidence to show trans women have better performances one year after taking testosterone suppression.
“There’s this moral panic messaging and this anti-trans campaign that portrays trans girls and women as testosterone-fuelled boys who are going to take everything from cisgender women,” said Dr. Travers, a sociology professor at Simon Fraser University. “There really isn’t any basis in evidence for this.”
There are five Alberta-based institutions that compete in U Sports.
A trio of U Sports championships are scheduled in Alberta over the next four years: the men’s basketball Final 8 in 2026 and volleyball championships in 2027 and 2028. The Final 8 is expected to be held by the University of Calgary. Mount Royal University is scheduled to host both volleyball tournaments.
U Sports didn’t comment on how the proposed bill would impact the future of those events.
The U of C and Mount Royal are both waiting for more information on the bill to determine its impact, according to separate emailed statements to UA.
The University of Alberta declined to comment on Bill 29. The University of Lethbridge and MacEwan University also did not respond to interview requests.
If the bill passes, it could impact trans and cisgender women’s overall participation in sports, said Gabriela Estrada, executive director of Fast and Female, a registered charity founded in Alberta.
Trans women may not feel comfortable picking up sports where they aren’t welcome to compete with other women, said Ms. Estrada, who supports U Sports’ public stand about the difficulty of hosting future events in Alberta under the bill.
“I think it would be worse to bring athletes from other provinces and say, ‘You can’t come, we’re going to have to intentionally exclude you,’” she said. “It’s the opposite of what many folks are trying to do in sport and physical activity right now.”
Bill 29 was one of three transgender-related bills announced by the Alberta government in October. The other two bills, should they pass, will notify parents when a youth wants to use a different name or pronoun and will mandate opt-ins for sex education in class.
Egale Canada and Skipping Stone Foundation, groups that support 2SLGBTQIA+ people and trans and gender-diverse youth, pledged to take legal action against the three bills earlier this year.
Bill 29 is expected to come into effect next fall, according to the provincial government.
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