2011 Campeonato Argentino de Rugby
The 2011 Campeonato Argentino de Rugby  2011, the most important tournament for provincial teams in Argentina, and the older national tournament was played between 26 March and 23 April. The victory rose to the selection of Unión Cordobesa de Rugby led by the former Italian national team player Ramiro Pez. Like in the previous season, the teams were divided on three levels ("Campeonato", "Ascenso", "Promocional") with a promotion/relegation format between the levels.


2011 Campeonato Argentino de Rugby, "Campeonato"
Two pools of four teams. The first two advanced semifinals, the last to relegation/promotion playoff.


2011 Campeonato Argentino de Rugby, "Campeonato", Semifinals
Buenos Aires qualified after overtime, having scored the first try of the match.


2011 Campeonato Argentino de Rugby, "Campeonato", Final
’’’Buenos Aires’’’ : 15.Dimas Suffern Quirno, 14.Francisco Bosch, 13.Simón Montes, 12.Marcelo Soiza (cap), 11.Germán Villamil , 10.Valentín Cruz (18' Bautista Güemes), 9. Francisco Cubelli (68’Francisco Albarracín), 8.Alejandro Galli, 7.Cristian Etchart, 6 Juan Pablo González Bonorino  5. Gonzalo Delguy, 4.Ramiro Herrera, 3 Francisco Gómez Kodela (68' Francisco Piccinini), 2.Francisco Lecot, 1. Conrado González Bravo. Coach;  Rolando Martin, Diego Cash and Gustavo Cohen. Cordoba   : 15. Gastón Revol, 14. Fernando Luna (76’ Federico Salazar), 13. Lisandro Gómez López, 12. Santiago Tobal (72’ Facundo Baglio), 11. Facundo Barrea, 10.Ramiro Pez, 9. Martín Manieri (76’ Mariano García, 8. Lucas Paschini (51-60’ Miguel Murer), 7. José Basile (cap. ), 6. Rodrigo Bruno, 5. Hugo Schierano (48’ Gerardo Isaías), 4. Alejandro Allub, 3. Matías Narváez (45’ Gastón Cortés), 2. Federico Fortuna, 1. Daniel Rodríguez. Coach: Daniel Tobal, Guillermo Taleb and Javier Fiori.


2011 Campeonato Argentino de Rugby, "Ascenso", Play off for promotion in "Campeonato"
The winner of each pool of "ascenso" play against one of the last of the pools of "Campeonato"


2011 Campeonato Argentino de Rugby, Promocional
New formula: the nine teams play a tournament called "Super 9" in two days with match with reduced time All the match were played in JuninThe winner of the "Copa " were promoted to "Ascenso"Finali il 2 April con promozione alla"Ascenso" della vincente della "Copa de oro"


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A
The 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (officially the Brasileirão Petrobras 2011 for sponsorship reasons) was the 55th edition of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top-level of professional football in Brazil. It began on May 21 and was scheduled to end on December 4. Fluminense comes in as the defending champion having won the 2010 season.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Format
For the ninth consecutive season, the tournament will be played in a double round-robin system. The team with most points will be declared the champion. The bottom-four teams will be relegated for the following season.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Format, International qualification
The Série A will serve as a qualifier to CONMEBOL's 2012 international tournaments. The top-two teams in the standings will qualify to the Second Stage of the 2012 Copa Libertadores, while the next third and fourth place in the standings will qualify to the First Stage. The next eight best teams in the standings will earn berths to the Second Stage of the 2012 Copa Sudamericana.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Team information
Vitória, Guarani, Goiás and Grêmio Prudente were relegated to the 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B after finishing in the bottom four spots of the table at the end of the 2010 season. Goiás were relegated to the Série B after eleven seasons of continuous membership in the top football league of Brazil, while Vitória ended a three-year tenure in Série A and Grêmio Prudente ended a two-year appearance. Guarani made their immediate return to the second level.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Team information
The four relegated teams were replaced by four 2010 Série B sides. Champions Coritiba, made their immediate return to Série A, runners-up Figueirense, who returned after two years, third placed Bahia, who returned to the top flight after seven seasons at lower levels, and fourth placed América Mineiro, who returned to the league for the first time in eight years.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Team information, Personnel and kits
Note: Flags indicate national team as has been defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B
In 2011, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, the second level of the Brazilian League, will be contested by 20 clubs from May 20 until November 26, 2011. Top four teams in the table will qualify to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A to be contested in 2012, meanwhile the bottom four will be relegated to Série C next season.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série B, Format
For the sixth consecutive season, the tournament will be played in a double round-robin system. The team with most points will be declared champions. Top four clubs will ascend to Série A, meanwhile the bottom four will be relegated to Série C.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C
In 2011, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, the third level of the Brazilian League, will be contested by 20 clubs divided in four groups, followed by a playoff round, during 16 July and 13 November. The top four clubs, the ones which qualifies to the semifinals, will be promoted to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série B to be contested in 2012. Meanwhile, the bottom four clubs, the ones that finish in last place of each group, will be relegated to 2012 Série D.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, Format, Tiebreakers
If two or more teams are equal on points on completion of the group matches, the following criteria are applied to determine the rankings


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série C, Final standings
Note that no round-robin will be played involving all clubs; positions will depend on individual scoring.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D
In 2011, the Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, the fourth division of the Brazilian League, will be contested for the third time in history, during 18 July and 13 November. It will be contested by 40 clubs, four of which will eventually qualify to the Campeonato Brasileiro Série C to be contested in 2012.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, Competition format
The 40 teams are divided in eight groups of 5, playing within them in a double round-robin format. The two best ranked in each group at the end of 10 rounds will qualify to the Second Stage, which will be played in home-and-away system. Winners advance to Third Stage. The quarterfinal winners will be promoted to the Série C 2012. As there is no Série E, or fifth division, technically there will be no relegation. However, teams who were not promoted will have to re-qualify for Série D 2012 through their respective state leagues. The competition can also be considered as 4 mini-tournaments (Group 1+2;3+4;5+6;7+8) because according to the playoff-structure, exactly one team of each "mini-tournament" will be promoted.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, Participating teams
Notes: Amazonas:After Amazonas got an additional berth (see Note RO) Amazonas FA decided that the best placed team in CBF's ranking (Nacional) is qualified. Fast Clube (2010 Campeonato Amazonense runners) appealed to the Amazonas Court of Sporting Justice (TJD), and on 7 July 2011, it was announced that Fast Clube's appeal was rejected. On 12 July the Court of the State of Amazonas granted an injunction in favor of the fan Cavalcante Marco Tulio Costa, as a fan against the FAF and CBF.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, Participating teams
In the injunction, the FAF is obliged to indicate the Fast Club as the second representative of the Amazonas in the Brazilian Championship Série D.On 14 July the injunction was revoked. Goiás: All eligible teams from 2011 Campeonato Goiano 1ª Divisão (CRAC, Aparecidense, Goianésia, Morrinhos) withdrew and 2011 Campeonato Goiano 2ª Divisão season start in June. So the best placed non-2011 1ª Divisão team in 2010 Campeonato Goiano is qualified.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, Participating teams
Minas Gerais: Best placed team América de Teófilo Otoni (4th) withdrew. Rio de Janeiro: The five best teams (Boavista, Olaria, Resende, Americano and Nova Iguaçu) withdrew.


2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D, Participating teams
Rondônia  and  Roraima: All Rondônia and all Roraima-based teams withdrew. Since Rondônia and Roraima were already allocated in Group 1, the entries passed on to Amazonas and Mato Grosso best and second best placed on CBF's Ranking.


2011 Campeonato Carioca
The 2011 Campeonato Estadual da Serie A de Profissionais do Rio de Janeiro was the 110th edition of the top tier football in Rio de Janeiro. It was organized by the Federação de Futebol do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (FERJ). The competition began 19 January and ended on 15 May. Botafago were the title defenders.


2011 Campeonato Carioca, Format
The sixteen clubs were divided into two groups that played in two tournaments:  Taça Guanabara and Taça Rio. In Taça Guanabara, the teams from each group played the teams within their group in a single round-robin tournament. The two top placed teams from each group advanced to the playoffs and the next two placed teams played Troféu Washington Rodrigues. In Taça Rio, the teams of one group played the teams in the other group in a single round-robin format.


2011 Campeonato Carioca, Format
The two top placed teams from each group advanced to the playoffs and the next two placed teams from each group contested Troféu Carlos Alberto Torres. The winning teams of Taça Guanabara and Taça Rio played for the state title. The team that won both tournaments were by fault awarded the title.


2011 Campeonato Carioca, Format, Qualifications
The best two teams not qualified to 2012 Copa Libertadores qualified for 2012 Copa do Brasil. The best team not playing in Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, B, or C qualified for 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D


2011 Campeonato Carioca, Taça Guanabara
The 2011 Taça Guanabara began on 19 January and ended on 27 February. Flamengo won their 19th Taça Guanabara and qualified to the state finals.


2011 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A
The 2011 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol de la Serie A (known as the 2011 Copa Credife Serie A for sponsorship reasons) was the 53rd season of the Serie A, Ecuador's premier football league. The season began on January 30 and ended on December 18, with a break in July for the 2011 Copa América. LDU Quito is the defending champion.


2011 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A, Format
After a session of the preliminary meeting of the Congress of Professional Football of the Ecuadorian Football Federation (Spanish: Congreso Ordinario del Fútbol Profesional de la Federación Ecuatoriana de Fútbol), it was determined that the format for the 2011 season will be the same as the previous season.


2011 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A, Teams
Twelve teams will compete in the 2011 Serie A season, ten of whom remain from the previous season. Macará and Universidad Católica were relegated last season after accumulating the fewest points in the 2010 season aggregate table. They were replaced by LDU Loja and Imbabura, the 2010 Serie B winner and runner-up, respectively. This will be both clubs' second season in the league. LDU Loja played their only season in 2005 and Imbabura played their only season in 2007.


2011 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A, First stage
The first stage (Spanish: Primera Etapa) began on January 30 and ended on June 19. Emelec won the stage.


2011 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A, Second stage
The second stage (Spanish: Segunda Etapa) began on July 22 and is scheduled to end on December 4.


2011 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A, Third stage
The Third Stage (Spanish: Tercera Etapa) began on December 11 and will end on December 19. It will consist of two playoffs.


2011 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A, Third stage, Third-place playoffs
LDU Quito and El Nacional will play in the third-place playoff for the Ecuador 3 berth in the 2012 Copa Libertadores as the top-two teams non-stage winners in the aggregate table. Since LDU Quito had the most points in the aggregate table, they will play the second leg at home.


2011 Campeonato Ecuatoriano de Fútbol Serie A, Third stage, Finals
Emelec and Deportivo Quito qualified to the Finals by being the First Stage and Second Stage winners, respectively. The winner will be the Serie A champion and earned the Ecuador 1 berth in the 2012 Copa Libertadores. By having the greater number of points in the aggregate table, Deportivo Quito will play the second leg at home.


2011 Campeonato Gaúcho
The 2011 Campeonato da Primeira Divisão de Futebol Profissional da FGF (2011 FGF First Division Professional Football Championship), better known as the 2011 Campeonato Gaúcho or  Gaúcho, was the 91st edition of the top-flight football league of the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul. The season began on 16 January and ended on 15 May. Internacional successfully defended in the final its 2010 title.


2011 Campeonato Gaúcho, Format
The sixteen clubs were divided into two groups that would contest in only two matches to determine which four teams from each group would qualify to the play-offs. The first stage called Taça Piratini 2012 (Piratini Cup 2012, won by Caxias) had each team from one group play only one club in the other group. In the second stage, called Taça Farroupilha 2012 (Farroupilha Cup 2012, won by Grêmio) each club within each group played one match against a club in the group. The two lowest ranked teams in the overall standings were relegated (Internacional (SM) and Porto Alegre.


2011 Campeonato Gaúcho, Teams
1Universidade Sport Club was renamed to Canoas Sport Club on 26 November 2010.


2011 Campeonato Gaúcho, Overall table
The overall table considers only the matches played during the first stage of both Taças and will define the two teams that will be relegated to play lower levels in 2012.The Taça Champions are placed on the top of the table. The best placed team not playing in Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (Grêmio, Internacional), B or C (Caxias) will be "promoted" to 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D. The best two teams not qualified to 2012 Copa Libertadores will qualify for 2012 Copa do Brasil. The final round game between Internacional-SM and Porto Alegre was cancelled after the relegation of both teams.


2011 Campeonato Internacional de Verano
The 2011 Campeonato Internacional de Verano, also known as Copa Bimbo for sponsoring purposes, is the third edition of the Campeonato Internacional de Verano, an exhibition international club football competition that featured two clubs from Uruguay (Nacional and Peñarol), one from Paraguay (Libertad) and one from Argentina (Vélez Sársfield). It is played in Montevideo, Uruguay at the Estadio Centenario from 14 to 16 January 2011.


2011 Campeonato Internacional de Verano, Matches, Final
Man of the match: Leonardo BuriánAssistant referees: Miguel Nievas Carlos PastorinoFourth official: Líber Prudente


2011 Campeonato Mineiro
The 2011 Campeonato da Primera Divisåo de Profissionais - Módulo I , better known as the 2011 Campeonato Mineiro, was the 97th season of Minas Gerais's top-flight football league. The season began on January 29 and ended on May 15.


2011 Campeonato Mineiro, Format
The first stage was a single round robin. The best four teams qualified for the playoffs. If two teams have the same number of goals the team with the better first stage performance advanced. The bottom two teams were relegated.


2011 Campeonato Mineiro, Format, Qualifications
The best two teams not qualified to 2012 Copa Libertadores qualified for 2012 Copa do Brasil. The best two team not playing in Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (América Mineiro, Atlético Mineiro, Cruzeiro), B or C (Ipatinga FC) qualified for 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D.


2011 Campeonato Paraibano
The 2011 edition of Campeonato Paraibano's First Division was contested by 10 clubs and started on February 2, 2011. Treze successfully defended their 2010 season title.


2011 Campeonato Paraibano, Format
It'll be played in two stages: the first one is a standard round-robin tournament in which all teams play each other in home and away fixtures. The bottom 2 clubs of this stage will be relegated to 2012 Campeonato Paraibano Second Division. The second stage will be played in a play-off format, where the 4 best-placed teams from the first stage will compete.


2011 Campeonato Paraibano, Format
If the champion from both stages ends up being the same team, the said team will be declared the 2011 Campeonato Paraibano champion. Otherwise, the winners from the two stages will play a two-legged play-off to decide the champion. In any of the play-off stages, the clubs with the best records in the first stage are higher seeded, advancing in case of a draw.


2011 Campeonato Paraibano, First stage, Standings
The 2011 Campeonato Paraibano first stage began on February 2 and ended on May 1.


2011 Campeonato Paraibano, Second Stage, Semifinals
First legs were played on 5 May 2011. Return legs were played on 8 May 2011.


2011 Campeonato Paraibano, Second Stage, Botafogo v. Treze
In the second stage semifinals, Botafogo and Treze competed. In the first match, Botafogo won 4–0. In the second half of the second match, Treze was winning 3–0 ahead when striker Vavá scored the fourth goal and proceeded to celebrate by mimicking an artillery soldier in front of Botafogo supporters. A fight then ensued, involving even Botafogo's head coach, Maurício Cabedelo. Five players were sent-off – 3 from Treze and 2 from Botafogo. After the game was restarted, Treze's sideback Ferreira and midfielder Doda fell on the ground, claiming injuries.


2011 Campeonato Paraibano, Second Stage, Botafogo v. Treze
Due to one of the teams not having at least seven players on the field, the match was declared finished with a 4–0 score, which favoured Treze and allowed the Campina Grande side to play in the second stage final against rivals Campinense. Treze and Campinense played, with the aggregate score of 2–2 supposedly giving Treze the title of Campeonato Paraibano champion.


2011 Campeonato Paraibano, Second Stage, Botafogo v. Treze
Botafogo judicially accused Treze of trying to fake injuries in order to finish the semifinals second match earlier than the 90 minute mark. The Paraíba state's Court of Sporting Justice (TJDF-PB) decided that Treze would lose its points from the second stage, and that Botafogo would decide the second stage winner spot against Campinense. The second stage finals were scheduled to take place in 19 and 26 June 2011. Treze appealed to the Supreme Court of Sporting Justice (STJD), and on 17 June 2011, it was announced that Treze's appeal was successful and the 19 June match was suspended.


2011 Campeonato Paraibano, Second Stage, Botafogo v. Treze
On 30 June 2011, Treze's second stage title was confirmed by the STJD, thus making the Campina Grande side Campeonato Paraibano champions for the fifteenth time.


2011 Campeonato Paranaense
The 2011 Campeonato Paranaense de Futebol Profissional da 1ª Divisão is the 96th season of Paraná's top professional football league. The competition began on January 16 and will end on May 15. Coritiba is the defending champion.


2011 Campeonato Paranaense, Format
The tournament consists of a double round-robin format, in which all twelve teams play each other twice, with classification split in two stages. The first stage of the tournament started on January 16 and will end on February 27 and the second stage will start on March 5 and end on May 1. The better-placed teams of each stage will face themselves in a two-legged tie, with the team with the most points in the overall classification playing the second leg home, the winning team will then be declared champion. The finals are notable in the sense that goal difference will not be a tiebreaking criteria, if both teams tie on points the decision will go directly to a penalty shootout. If the same team is best-placed on both stages, it will automatically be declared champion.


2011 Campeonato Paranaense, Format
The best two-placed teams in the overall classification not advancing to the finals and not from Curitiba will face themselves in a two-legged tie competing for the Torneio do Interior. The team with the most points will play the second leg home. The bottom two teams on overall classification will be relegated.


2011 Campeonato Paranaense, Format, Qualifications
The best three teams not qualified to 2012 Copa Libertadores will qualify for 2012 Copa do Brasil. The best two teams not playing in Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, B or C will qualify for 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D.


2011 Campeonato Paranaense, Second stage, Notable matches
On penultimate  matchday Atlético Paranaense will play against first stage champions and second stage leader Coritiba. Coritiba won this match and became champion prematurely.


2011 Campeonato Paulista
The 2011 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 (officially the Paulistão Chevrolet 2012 for sponsorship reasons) was the 110th season of São Paulo's top professional football league.


2011 Campeonato Paulista
Santos won the title after beating Corinthians 2–1 on aggregate in the finals.


2011 Campeonato Paulista, Format
The top eight teams in the First Stage qualifies to the Quarter-Finals. The bottom four teams will be relegated to the Série A2. Quarter and Semi-Finals will be played in one-legged matches. The best-four teams not qualified to the Semi-Finals not from the city of São Paulo or Santos FC, will compete in the Campeonato do Interior.


2011 Campeonato Paulista, Awards, Young Player of the Season
The Young Player of the Year was awarded to Lucas.


2011 Campeonato Paulista, Awards, Countryside Best Player of the Season
The Countryside Best Player of the Year was awarded to Fábio Santos.


2011 Campeonato Paulista, Awards, Top scorer of the Season
The Top scorer award went to Liédson and Elano, who scored 11 goals.


2011 Campeonato Paulista, Awards, Coach of the Season
The Coach of the Season award went to Luiz Felipe Scolari.


2011 Campeonato Paulista knockout stage
The knockout stage of the 2011 Campeonato Paulista began on 23 April 2011 with the quarter-finals, and concluded on 15 May 2011 with the final at Vila Belmiro in Santos.


2011 Campeonato Paulista knockout stage, Round and draw dates
All draws held at Federação Paulista de Futebol headquarters in São Paulo, Brazil.


2011 Campeonato Paulista knockout stage, Format
The quarter-finals are played in one match at stadium of the best teams in the first phase. The 1st placed confronts the 8th, 2nd against the 7th, the 3rd against 6th and 4th against 5th. If no goals are scored during the match, the tie is decided by penalty shootout. The semi-finals are played in the same way of the quarter-finals. The final matches are played over two legs, with the best campaign team in previous stages playing the second match at home.


2011 Campeonato Roraimense
The 2011 Campeonato Roraimense was the 17th season of Roraima's top professional football league. The competition began 2 April and ended 21 May. Baré was the defending champion, but did not participate due to financial issues.


2011 Campeonato Roraimense, Format
Six clubs were divided into two groups that played in two tournaments. In both tournaments the teams played a single round robin. The group winners qualified for the final. The winner of both tournaments played for the state championship. If the same team had won both tournaments, they would have been automatically declared the champion.


2011 Campeonato Roraimense, Format, Qualifications
The champion qualified for 2012 Copa do Brasil and 2011 Campeonato Brasileiro Série D


2011 Campeonato Roraimense, Participating teams
All games expect Rio Negro vs Náutico were played in Ribeirão, Boa Vista


2011 Campeonato Roraimense, First tournament, Group stage, Group A standings
Real qualified due to having less red cards than Atlético Roraima (0-2).


2011 Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol
This is the current revision of this page, as edited by Frietjes (talk | contribs) at 15:11, 9 February 2020 (→Standings). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this version.


2011 Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol
The 2011 Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol season is the 28th season of football in Macau and started on January 14 and ended June 26, 2011. Ka I were the defending champion and retained their title.


2011 Canada Cup of Curling
The 2011 Capital One Canada Cup of Curling was held from November 30 to December 4 at the Cranbrook Recreational Complex in Cranbrook, British Columbia. The format for this year's competition was changed from the previous year. Instead of 10 men's and 10 women's teams in two pools of five each, there were seven teams of each gender competing in a round robin. The first place teams advanced to their respective finals, while the second and third place teams met in the semifinals. Capital One became the sponsor of the Canada Cup of Curling after a deal with the Canadian Curling Association to become the sponsor of the Canada Cup and the Pre-Trials Road to the Roar.


2011 Canada Cup of Curling
In the women's final, Jennifer Jones picked up her second Canada Cup after winning a one-sided affair against fellow Manitoban Chelsea Carey, winning in eight ends with a score of 9–4. In the men's final, Kevin Martin won his record fourth Canada Cup as skip and avenged a loss to Glenn Howard at last year's Cup, winning with a score of 7–4.


2011 Canada Cup of Curling
The winners, Kevin Martin and Jennifer Jones, became the first teams to qualify for the 2013 Canadian Olympic Curling Trials in Winnipeg, Manitoba, which will determine Canada's representatives for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. The total prize money was CAD$70,000 each for the men's and women's events, and the winning teams each received CAD$26,000. In addition to berths into the 2013 Trials, the winners also received invitations to the 2012 Canada Cup of Curling in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan and the 2013 Continental Cup of Curling at Penticton, British Columbia.


2011 Canada Winter Games
The 2011 Canada Winter Games were held in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from Friday, 11 February 2011, to Sunday, 27 February 2011.


2011 Canada Winter Games, Bids
Four bids (all from Nova Scotia, as it was that province's turn) were made for the games, and eventually Halifax was selected to stage the games.


2011 Canada Winter Games, Medal table
The following is the medal table for the 2011 Canada Winter Games.


2011 Canada Winter Games, Flag points/Centennial Cup
Ontario won the flag points competition, and Nova Scotia won the Centennial Cup.


2011 Canada Winter Games, Schedule
The schedule for the 2011 Canada Games (19 February is a crossover day):


2011 Canadian Championship
The 2011 Canadian Championship (officially the Nutrilite Canadian Championship) was a soccer tournament hosted and organized by the Canadian Soccer Association that took place in the cities of Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver in 2011. As in previous tournaments, participating teams included the Montreal Impact, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. FC Edmonton participated in this year's competition for the first time. Toronto FC won the tournament, claiming the Voyageurs Cup and Canada's entry into the preliminary round of the 2011–12 CONCACAF Champions League. The tournament has been held annually since 2008.


2011 Canadian Championship
The format of the 2011 tournament was different from previous editions. In 2011, with four teams involved, the tournament was changed to be a home-and-away semifinal round and a similar final round between the winners. Toronto, as reigning champions, were assigned the top seed and were matched with Edmonton, who were assigned the fourth seed as newcomers to the tournament. The two remaining teams, Montreal and Vancouver, faced off in the other semifinal.


2011 Canadian Championship, Matches, Final, Second leg
Match abandoned in the 60th minute due to lightning and unplayable field conditions. Originally scheduled to be replayed on May 26, 11:00 EDT, but was rescheduled as weather conditions prevented the match from being played. The second leg was eventually replayed on July 2, 12:30 EDT, in its entirety starting from 0–0 according to the rules of the tournament.


2011 Canadian Direct Insurance BC Men's Curling Championship
The 2011 Canadian Direct Insurance BC Men's Curling Championship (British Columbia's men's provincial curling championship) was held February 7–13 at the Vernon Curling Club in Vernon, British Columbia. The winning team of Jim Cotter will represent British Columbia at the 2011 Tim Hortons Brier in London, Ontario.


2011 Canadian Figure Skating Championships
The 2011 Canadian Figure Skating Championships were held from January 17 to 23, 2011 in Victoria, British Columbia. The event determines the national champions of Canada and is organized by Skate Canada, the nation's figure skating governing body. The junior-level and senior-level events were held at the Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre. Skaters competed at the senior, junior, and novice levels in the disciplines of men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Although the official International Skating Union terminology for female skaters in the singles category is ladies, Skate Canada uses women officially. The results of this competition were used to pick the Canadian teams for the 2011 World Championships, the 2011 Four Continents Championships, and the 2011 World Junior Championships, as well as the Canadian national team.


2011 Canadian Figure Skating Championships
The novice event had been held separately in previous years; the last time it was held with the senior events was 1997.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix
The 2011 Canadian Grand Prix (formally the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada 2011) was a Formula One motor race held on 12 June 2011 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was the seventh race of the 2011 Formula One World Championship and the 48th Canadian Grand Prix. McLaren driver Jenson Button won the 70-lap race starting from seventh position. Sebastian Vettel, who started from pole position, finished second in a Red Bull Racing with teammate Mark Webber finishing third. The Grand Prix holds the record of the longest race duration, at four hours, four minutes, including a red flag period.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix
The race began behind the safety car, and once it returned to the pits Vettel built a lead over Fernando Alonso. A second safety car deployment caused by the collision of Button and teammate Lewis Hamilton closed the time gaps between cars, but Vettel retained the lead. By lap 26, increasingly heavy rain led to the race's suspension, before it was restarted over two hours later. Button was involved in another collision on lap 37, which led to Alonso's retirement and Button falling to last place. Over the remainder of the race, he moved from twenty-first place to first, passing Webber and Michael Schumacher, who had started fourth and eighth respectively, for second place on lap 65, and Vettel on the final lap.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix
The victory was Button's first of the season, and put him into second place in the World Drivers' Championship, sixty points behind leader Vettel, who had extended his lead despite finishing second. Webber remained in third, and Hamilton's retirement meant he slipped to fourth. In the World Constructors' Championship Red Bull extended their lead to 65 points from McLaren, with Ferrari a further 85 points behind. At over four hours the race set the record as the longest in Formula One history.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Background
The Grand Prix was contested by twelve teams, each of two drivers. The teams, also known as constructors, were Red Bull Racing, McLaren, Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, Williams, Force India, Sauber, Toro Rosso, Lotus, HRT and Virgin. Tyre supplier Pirelli brought four different tyre types to the race: two dry compounds, the soft "primes" and the super-soft "options"; and two wet-weather compounds, the intermediate and full wet. The drag reduction system (DRS) had two activation zones for the race; one was on the straight between turns 11 and 13, and the second on the start/finish straight from the final to first corners.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Background
Going into the race, Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel led the Drivers' Championship with 143 points, ahead of Lewis Hamilton on 85 points and Mark Webber on 79. Jenson Button was fourth with 76 points while Fernando Alonso was fifth on 69 points. In the Constructors' Championship Red Bull were leading with 222 points, McLaren and Ferrari were second and third with 161 and 93 points respectively, while Renault with 50 and Mercedes with 40 points contended for fourth place.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Background
Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel had so far dominated the championship, winning five out of the six previous races, with Lewis Hamilton winning the Chinese Grand Prix. Championship contenders Webber and Button had gained one second-place finish each, and Alonso, Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld had achieved third place podium finishes.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Background
Prior to the event Virgin Racing announced they would end their partnership with Wirth Research, the company responsible for designing and developing the team's racing cars. In order to cut costs, Wirth Research had designed the cars exclusively using computational fluid dynamics, and unlike their competitors Wirth had not utilised a wind tunnel. The approach was not successful as the team had failed to qualify higher than 20th so far in the season, leading to the partnership's conclusion.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Background
Virgin Racing's CEO Andy Webb, who had aims to challenge for a podium position at the inaugural Russian Grand Prix, expressed that ending the partnership would mean "that the team will take greater control of its own destiny". Wirth Research would continue to develop the car until the end of the 2011 season, while Virgin Racing would up their own technical department under the control of former Renault Director of Engineering Pat Symonds.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Background
Several teams made major technical updates to their cars for the Grand Prix. McLaren and Ferrari altered the brake ducts on their cars, improving the cooling to manage the high brake temperatures encountered in Montreal. Ferrari and Mercedes revised their rear suspension layouts, while Red Bull brought a new front wing optimised for lower downforce. Renault and Williams brought new rear wings, which were designed specifically for low-downforce circuits such as Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the location of the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Practice
Three practice sessions were held before the race; two 90-minute sessions on Friday and one lasting an hour on Saturday. Nico Rosberg was the fastest driver in the first practice session, ahead of Alonso and Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher. Vettel caused the session to be suspended after crashing into the circuit's "Wall of Champions" on the last corner, heavily damaging his car. After the morning session Sergio Pérez, who had suffered from concussion after a crash at the previous race, withdrew from the Grand Prix.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Practice
Although he had passed the FIA's medical examination, Pérez said that "I only want to drive when I'm a hundred per cent well. I need some more time to recover". He was replaced by McLaren's reserve driver Pedro de la Rosa, who had competed for Sauber in 2010. Alonso was fastest in the second session, ahead of Vettel, Massa and Hamilton –  although the McLaren driver received a puncture midway through practice.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Practice
The session was disrupted by incidents as Kamui Kobayashi and Jérôme d'Ambrosio struck the barriers – both accidents requiring a suspension as marshals cleared the track of debris – and Adrian Sutil's Force India broke its suspension in a crash at turn 7. The third session on Saturday morning saw Vettel fastest, ahead of Alonso, Rosberg and Massa. A KERS failure on Mark Webber's RB7 prevented him from participating. A crash by de la Rosa in the final minute brought out a red flag, and the session was prematurely ended due to the limited time remaining.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Qualifying
The qualifying session on Saturday afternoon was split into three parts. The first part ran for 20 minutes and eliminated the cars from qualifying that finished the session 18th or lower. During this session, the 107% rule was in effect, which necessitated each driver set a time within 107% of the quickest lap to qualify for the race. The second part of qualifying lasted 15 minutes and eliminated cars that finished in positions 11 to 17. The final part of qualifying determined the positions from first to tenth, and decided pole position.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Qualifying
Vettel achieved his sixth pole position of the season, and his first at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, with a time of 1 minute and 13.014 seconds. He was joined on the front row of the grid by Alonso, with teammate Massa in third, giving Ferrari their best qualifying performance of the season. Webber had not been able to use his car's KERS and qualified fourth, four-tenths of a second behind Vettel. Hamilton and Button qualified in fifth and seventh respectively and McLaren blamed the slow pace on too high levels of downforce on the high-speed circuit.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Qualifying
The Mercedes drivers qualified in sixth and eighth, and Heidfeld and Vitaly Petrov completed the top ten. Paul di Resta was in 11th position, ahead of fellow rookies Pastor Maldonado and Kobayashi. Adrian Sutil struggled with grip throughout the session and was 14th; following him were Sébastien Buemi, Barrichello and de la Rosa. Jaime Alguersuari qualifying in 18th complained of insufficient grip and brake balance, and at the back of the grid were the Lotus, HRT and Virgin drivers. D'Ambrosio did not qualify after failing to set a time within 107% in the first qualifying session. However the stewards allowed him to race, having considered he was using a new chassis after an accident in Friday practice, where he had set faster lap times.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Qualifying, Qualifying classification
The fastest lap in each of the three sessions is denoted in bold.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
The track was wet before the race, as rain showers had hit the area throughout the day. The race was due to start at 13:00 local time (UTC−4), and heavy rain was expected to arrive an hour into the race. The air temperature ranged between 17–19 °C (63–66 °F), with the track temperature between 18–20 °C (64–68 °F). Standing water on the track, which was causing heavy spray and impairing visibility, meant that the race would start behind the safety car and all cars would use the full wet tyres. Alguersuari would start the race from the pitlane, as he modified his Toro Rosso's set-up to optimise the car for the wet conditions.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
The race began behind the safety car, with no formation lap, and despite the slow speed drivers struggled for grip on the wet surface. The safety car came into the pits after five laps, and the cars were allowed to overtake. Vettel retained first place withstanding Alonso's attempts to pass, while behind Hamilton and Webber collided at the first corner –   dropping the drivers to seventh and fourteenth respectively. Button lost fifth place mid-lap after running wide, losing two places to Schumacher and Hamilton.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
At the end of the first racing lap, di Resta had moved up to eighth position, followed by Heidfeld and Kobayashi, who made three places off the grid. Vettel extended his lead over the next lap, while the positions behind continued to change. Kobayashi had improved to eighth and Webber recovered to twelfth, while di Resta fell back to thirteenth. Hamilton lost sixth position running wide on a failed overtaking move on Schumacher, and fell behind Button. He attempted an overtake on the pit straight, but the two drivers collided and Hamilton hit the pit wall. The accident caused Hamilton's retirement, which prompted a safety car deployment at the end of lap eight.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
The race was resumed on lap 13 and Button, who had changed to intermediate tyres before the safety car period, was given a drive-through penalty for speeding behind the safety car, emerging in 15th place. Vettel began to enlarge his lead over Alonso and Massa in second and third. Alonso and the Mercedes pitted for intermediate tyres, leaving Massa in second and Kobayashi in third by lap 17. Barrichello, who switched for intermediates as the safety car came in, began setting times at the same pace as the leaders, and gained 15th position as the drivers in front changed tyres.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
On lap 19, a rain storm arrived at the circuit, forcing the drivers on intermediate tyres to switch back to full wets. Alonso and Button, who were in fifth and eighth respectively, fell to ninth and eleventh, while the drivers on the full wet tyres began pitting for fresh wet tyres. The safety car was brought out on lap 20 due to the intensity of the rain, and Vettel, Webber, Massa and Buemi, who had not changed tyres, went to the pitlane for fresh full wets. After six laps under the safety car, the conditions were getting worse, and the race was suspended.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
Torrential rain prevented the resumption of the Grand Prix for over two hours, until the rain eased at 15:50 local time. The race was restarted behind the safety car with the drivers in the positions held before the suspension. Vettel was first, followed by Kobayashi, Massa, Heidfeld, Petrov and di Resta. Webber was in seventh place with Alonso, de la Rosa and Button behind. The safety car remained out for seven laps, during which the circuit began drying enough to be suitable for intermediate tyres, and D'Ambrosio pitted on lap 33 to change from the full wets.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
Vettel began to extend the lead over Kobayashi once the safety car came in on lap 35, as Massa and Heidfeld fought for Kobayashi's second place. Schumacher led several cars into the pitlane to change to intermediate tyres, while Button, Heidfeld and di Resta were among those who pitted the next lap. Vettel and Karthikeyan were the only drivers not to change tyres by lap 37, when Button came upon tenth placed Alonso as he exited the pitlane.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
As Button attempted to pass at turn 3 the two cars touched, and Alonso's Ferrari spun and beached upon a curb, bringing out the safety car. When the race resumed three laps later, Vettel, Kobayashi and Massa retained their positions, as Heidfeld, di Resta, Webber and Schumacher fought for fourth place. Button had a punctured tyre after the collision and was in twenty-first and last place, but immediately began to make up positions and was 14th by lap 44. Di Resta damaged his front wing attempting to overtake Heidfeld; the subsequent pit-stop and drive-through penalty dropped him down to last. Schumacher, having overtaken Webber, passed Heidfeld in fourth place, and set the fastest lap of the race.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
DRS was enabled on lap 46, as Barrichello and Rosberg were contesting eighth position. Button had caught Maldonado and Alguersuari, and passed both cars for tenth place. Mark Webber was the first driver to switch to slick tyres, and was followed by Barrichello and Buemi. Kobayashi and Massa, fighting for second place, were both passed by Schumacher on lap 51; Massa then passed Kobayashi for third place. As the drivers pitted for slick tyres over the next three laps, Massa damaged his wing forcing him into another pitstop, while damage to Adrian Sutil's car led to his retirement.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
Button had risen from ninth after his pit-stop to fourth, and was catching the leading trio of Vettel, Schumacher and Webber. On lap 56 Heidfeld, while battling Kobayashi for fifth place, collided with the rear of the Sauber which damaged his front wing. The wing then detached and folded under the car, and Heidfeld after losing control of his car ran down an escape road on turn 3. The debris on-track from the accident called the sixth safety car period of the race.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
Following the pitstops and safety car deployment, Petrov had gained sixth place while Barrichello, Alguersuari, Rosberg and Maldonado were in the remaining point scoring positions. Schumacher and Webber, who had contested second place before the safety car, resumed their fight as the race resumed on lap 61. Barrichello was passed by Rosberg and Alguersuari before Massa, who had been in eleventh place, overtook both Williams cars for ninth. Kobayashi lost fifth place to Petrov, and Maldonado retired by spinning off on the wet track at turn two.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
Webber, passing Schumacher using DRS, cut the chicane on lap 64 and ceded the position back to avoid a penalty. Button passed Webber, after he again cut the chicane, and Schumacher on the same lap, and gained second place. As Button began catching race leader Vettel, Webber overtook Schumacher for third place on lap 67. On the same lap di Resta retired because of a puncture, and Massa gained eighth position from Alguersuari. The fastest lap of the race was set by Button on lap 69, setting a time of 1:16.956 as he was closing to Vettel for the race lead.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race
Vettel led by 0.9 seconds on the final lap, before he ran wide at turn six. Button passed him to take the lead, and held it to win the race. Vettel recovered from going off-track and finished second, ahead of Webber in third and Schumacher in fourth. Petrov took fifth place, while Massa passed Kobayashi on the finish line for sixth place. Alguersuari, Barrichello and Buemi filled the final point scoring positions, and Rosberg's car had lost the front wing, dropping him to eleventh. De la Rosa was twelfth, and Liuzzi, d'Ambrosio, Glock, Trulli and Karthikeyan were the final classified drivers.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
"I enjoyed it very much coming through the field, fighting your way through the field is almost as good as winning the race. That feeling of getting one up on someone. A great race for people who are sat here, to be on the podium is a pretty exceptional result and to fight my way through from last position... It is definitely my best race."


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
The top three finishers appeared on the podium to collect their trophies, and in the subsequent press conference. Button felt the win was the best of his career so far, and stated that he had to fight hard to win the race: "It was really a fight. I got a drive-through for speeding behind the safety car and I had to fight my way through about three times. Eventually, on the last lap I was chasing down Seb.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
He ran a little bit wide onto the wet part of the circuit and I was able to take the opportunity and take the win." Button also praised his team and strategy for helping him take the victory, in particular the moves to intermediate tyres. Vettel expressed his disappointment of making a mistake on the final lap, after driving a faultless race up to that point. Nevertheless, he was happy with second place, as he had increased his championship lead. Webber said he was happy to finish third after his incident at the beginning of the race, putting his recovery from fourteenth place down to correct tyre choices.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren's team principal, praised Button's win, believing that it was one of the finest performances in Formula One:


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
I think it was one of the best wins in the history of F1, let alone his. There were punctures, he had to change the front wing, and from 21st I don't know how many times he had to overtake people. He just drove fantastically well. He kept focused. He applied as much pressure as he had to get past and really did a fantastic job. This was 90 per cent him and 10 per cent the car. He did a great, great, great job.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
The stewards did not impose a penalty on Button for his collisions with Hamilton and Alonso, having judged that no driver was to blame in either incident. Hamilton agreed with the stewards that Button did not intentionally collide with him, and although he felt he was alongside Button at the time, later reflected that "he probably hadn't spotted me". He went on to praise his teammate's race as "an utterly fantastic performance, from a truly great driver." Alonso also did not place any blame on Button, saying that it was the final incident on a day that "everything went wrong".


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Michael Schumacher admitted to having mixed feelings after the race, having been in second position until the race's last laps. The Mercedes driver stated: "I would obviously have loved to finish there [in second place] and be on the podium again. But even if it did not work out in the very end, we can be happy about the result and the big fight we put in."


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Kobayashi, placed second at the restart, shared similar feelings to Schumacher about finishing in a lower position: "Originally I qualified 13th so then it is not bad to finish seventh, but on the other hand I started second after the long red flag and looking from there the result is disappointing."


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
The usage of the safety car came under criticism from figures within the sport. Fernando Alonso disagreed with the decision to start under the safety car as he felt it prevented him from attacking Vettel, while Sauber technical director James Key thought his team was put at a disadvantage when Kobayashi could not defend against the quicker cars after the fifth safety car period.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Martin Brundle, who competed in Formula One for twelve years, stated "the fact that the drivers came in almost immediately for intermediate tyres tells me that, on the face of it, the safety car was out too long", and felt that the safety car "should be a last resort, not a default option." However, he recognised that FIA race director Charlie Whiting had to consider the driver's visibility, and inexperience using the Pirelli wet-weather tyres led to caution.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
Jarno Trulli however agreed with the FIA's decisions, in particular the length of the red flag delay: "It was right to wait that long; track conditions had to improve in order to make the cars drivable again. They did everything right." De la Rosa and di Resta also agreed with the decision to halt the race, and Whiting stating that "when it rained it was quite clear we needed to stop the race." Whiting went on to say that the opinions of the drivers were taken into account on the decision to halt the race, although he also considered the possibility of a suspension benefiting those drivers.


2011 Canadian Grand Prix, Race, Post-race
With a total time of four hours, four minutes and 39 seconds (including the two-hour suspension), the race was the longest in Formula One history. Button set records for the lowest average race winning speed, at 74.864 km/h (46.518 mph) and with five stops (plus one drive-through penalty) the most pit stops by the winner of a world championship race. The race also had the highest number of safety car deployments, with six appearances.


2011 Canadian Junior Curling Championships
The 2011 M&M Meat Shops Canadian Junior Curling Championships was held January 29-February 6 at The Glencoe Club and at the North Hill Community Curling Club in Calgary, Alberta.


2011 Canadian Junior Curling Championships, Qualification, Ontario
The Pepsi Ontario Junior Curling Championships were held January 5–9 at the Sarnia Golf & Curling Club in Sarnia.


2011 Canadian Masters Curling Championships
The 2011 Canadian Masters Curling Championships were held from March 30 to April 5 at the Assiniboine Memorial Curling Club in Winnipeg, Manitoba. In the men's final, Garry Gelowitz of British Columbia defeated John Usackis of Manitoba with a tally of 6–3, while Joyce McDougall of Manitoba defeated Karin Host of British Columbia 11–3 in the women's final.


2011 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship
The 2011 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship was held November 13-20, 2010 at the Morris Curling Club in Morris, Manitoba. Prince Edward Island won its third mixed title, defeating Manitoba in the final. P.E.I. skip Robert Campbell won his second Mixed championship.


2011 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship
Morris was the smallest community to ever host a Canadian national curling championship.


2011 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, Teams
The event had many past champions involved. Alberta was skipped by Tim Krassman, who won the event with Dean Ross in 2008. Nova Scotia was skipped by Paul Flemming, who won the event in 1999 and 2003. PEI was skipped by Robert Campbell, who won the event in 1989.


2011 Canadian Mixed Curling Championship, Teams
The event also included 1987 Canadian Junior champion Charlie Sullivan of New Brunswick and five-time Territorial champion Steve Moss.


2011 Canadian National Women's Under-18 ice hockey championships
The 2011 Canadian National Women's Under-18 Championships in ice hockey were held in Saguenay, Quebec. All games were contested at the Centre Georges-Vézina. Team Ontario Red claimed their sixth gold medal. Team Manitoba claimed their third bronze medal in tournament history.


2011 Canadian National Women's Under-18 ice hockey championships, Medal round
The gold medal game signified the sixth time in seven tournaments in which Ontario Red and Quebec played each other. In every match, Team Ontario Red triumphed (2001, January 2005, November 2005, 2007, 2008, 2011). At sixty-three seconds into the first period, Jaimie McDonell scored the game-winning goal on Ann-Renée Desbiens. With the win, Ontario Red improved its all-time record at the tournament to 35-1.


2011 Canadian Rugby Championship
The 2011 Canadian Rugby Championship was the 3rd season of the Canadian Rugby Championship. No Canada Selects team would be chosen because there was no ARC season that year, due to the Rugby World Cup being held the same year, in which Canada participated.


2011 Canadian Rugby Championship
The Ontario Blues were the 2011 CRC champions, winning the MacTier Cup a game before the season ended, having enough points to win the championship without being affected by the last game of the season, which they won anyway. It was their first ever CRC Championship title.


2011 Canadian Rugby Championship
Dean Blanks scored 55 points during the season, becoming the league's highest ever scorer, although it was the first year with more than six games a season. Duncan Maguire also set a record, scoring four tries, becoming the season's and the league's highest ever try scorer, but again this was in a season where each team played two more games than in previous years.


2011 Canadian Rugby Championship
It was the first season where a player received an individual award—Player of the Year.


2011 Canadian Rugby Championship, Pre-season
The league again didn't schedule any formal pre-season games, so teams played exhibition games against other sides as preparation for the season.


2011 Canadian Rugby Championship, Regular season, Structure
This season continued to utilize the round-robin format similar to The Rugby Championship where the team with the most points at the end of the season was named champion. However, the number of games in the season increased from six to 10, with each team playing five. The western teams played three home games and two away games, while this schedule was reversed for the eastern teams.


2011 Canadian Rugby Championship, Awards
This was the first season to award individual players. The only award given out was Player of the Year, determined by votes from the players' own coaches, all the other coaches, and a Rugby Canada representative. Two players tied for the votes: Josefa Dolesau of the BC Bears and Dean Blanks from The Rock.


2011 Canadian Senior Curling Championships
The 2011 Canadian Senior Curling Championships were held from March 19 to 26 at the Digby Arena and Digby Curling Club in Digby, Nova Scotia. The winning teams represented Canada at the 2012 World Senior Curling Championships in Tårnby, Denmark.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season
The 2011 Canadian Soccer League season (known as the Givova Canadian Soccer League for sponsorship reasons) was the 14th since its establishment where a total of 28 teams from Ontario and Quebec took part in the league. The season began on Saturday 6 May 2011, and concluded on 29 October 2011. Toronto Croatia won their fourth championship (seventh including Canadian National Soccer League titles) in a 1–0 victory over Capital City F.C. in the CSL Championship final at Centennial Park Stadium in Toronto.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season
The regular season saw SC Toronto claim their second regular season title, while Mississauga Eagles FC B won their first Second Division championship. The season saw an increase in membership to 14 teams the largest number since the 2002 season. The new entries saw the return of professional soccer to the communities of Windsor, Mississauga, and Ottawa.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season
After one season as commissioner Domenic Di Gironimo resigned with Vincent Ursini returning to be named his successor. The 2011 season witnessed the fruits of the CSL player developmental system as nine CSL players were selected to represent the Canada U-17 in the 2011 CONCACAF U-17 Championship. While 14 CSL players participated in the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup, and 4 players were selected to represent the Canada U-20 in the 2011 CONCACAF U-20 Championship. To further implement their developmental system the league formed a working relationship with the newly formed Canadian Academy of Futbol (CAF), which required their member clubs to form affiliations with academy teams.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season
The ownership structure of the league was reformed into an incorporated body as the CSL Association Inc in order to bring about a slow process of equalization to the status of teams, while compensating the equity owners who had heavily invested in league throughout the years. The reserve division was renamed the Second Division and grew to a record number of 14 clubs. As a result, in the increase of teams the division was further split into an East and West division.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season
The second division continued its traditional support role as reserve teams to First Division squads, and as an entry level division for teams that haven't met the standards for a first division club. Their television deal with Rogers TV included a new broadcasting record of 70 regular season matches, and have expanded their original coverage of Toronto teams to include the cities of London, Brantford, Mississauga, and Ottawa.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season, Changes from 2010
The CSL operated 2 divisions in 2011; First and Second. The reserve division has been referred to in some media releases as CSL II.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season, Changes from 2010
The Givova Cup play-offs were announced to include the top 8 teams. The quarter-final round was played over 2 legs and standard seeding with 1 v 8, 2 v 7, 3 v 6 and 4 v 5.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season, Teams
A total of 14 teams contested in the league, including 11 from the 2010 season and three expansion teams.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season, Teams
The league featured two expansion teams, Mississauga Eagles FC, an Ottawa-based team called Capital City, and the return of Windsor Stars. Hamilton Croatia and Milltown FC did not return for the 2011 season after failing to meet the membership deadline for the 2011 season. Milltown FC owner Dino Rossi announced future plans to form a breakaway league under the jurisdiction of the Ontario Soccer Association.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season, Teams
In further changes, two teams changed their name prior to this season. Brampton Lions competed under the name of Brampton United, while Portugal FC were renamed SC Toronto.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season, Playoffs
The top 8 teams will qualify for the 2-legged Quarter-finals with the winners advancing to the one game semi-finals to be hosted by the highest remaining seeds.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season, Individual awards
The annual CSL awards ceremony was held at the Mississauga Convention Centre in Mississauga, Ontario on 14 November 2011. The majority of the awards went to league champions Toronto Croatia. Tihomir Maletic received his second consecutive MVP award, and Sven Arapovic was given the Defender of the Year for his contributions in establishing Toronto's solid defensive record. Velemir Crljen went home with the Coach of the Year, while club president Joe Pavicic was given the Harry Paul Gauss award.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season, Individual awards
The Golden Boot was taken by Stefan Vukovic of TFC Academy, and Scott Cliff of SC Toronto was voted the Goalkeeper of the Year. Capital City FC produced the Rookie of the Year with Akil DeFreitas, who later went abroad to the Veikkausliiga. Niagara United received their first Fair Play award for being the most disciplined team throughout the season. The CSL Referee Committee selected David Barrie, a veteran national referee with the Referee of the Year. Rogers TV producer Jeremy Milani was given a special service award for promoting CSL matches throughout the years.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season, Second Division
The CSL Second Division was originally set up to be the Reserve League. In 2011, that was adjusted to include an academy team, Kingston Prospect FC and 2 clubs (Niagara United and Kitchener Waterloo United FC) which didn't meet the standards for a First Division club by the deadline date. Currently there are no formal plans for promotion and relegation. One rule that was implemented in the 2011 season was that teams must have a maximum of 4 U-23 players in their rosters.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season, Second Division
The division expanded to a record number of 14 teams, and was split into an East and West division. Other new additions to the division was the return of Toronto Croatia's reserve squad, and the debut of London City's reserve team. During the regular season both Niagara United, and SC Toronto B secured their Second Division titles. While in the postseason Mississauga Eagles B defeated Brampton United B to claim their first CSL D2 Championship.


2011 Canadian Soccer League season, International Friendlies
Toronto Croatia participated in the 2nd Croatian World Club Championship in order to defend their title. They successfully claimed their second championship after defeating Canberra Croatia.


2011 Canadian Tour
The 2011 Canadian Tour season ran from March to November and consisted of 12 golf tournaments. It was the 42nd season of the Canadian Professional Golf Tour.


2011 Canadian Tour
The season started with three events in Latin America (March to May), followed by eight events in Canada (June to August), and ending with one event in the United States (November). Mexican José de Jesús Rodríguez won the Order of Merit.


2011 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship
The 2011 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship was held March 21-27 at the Jasper Place Curling Club in Edmonton, Alberta.


2011 Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship
Manitoba won their first Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship, defeating Alberta in the final.


2011 Canadian census
The 2011 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population on May 10, 2011. Statistics Canada, an agency of the Canadian government, conducts a nationwide census every five years. In 2011, it consisted of a mandatory short form census questionnaire and an inaugural National Household Survey (NHS), a voluntary survey which replaced the mandatory long form census questionnaire; this substitution was the focus of much controversy. Completion of the (short form) census is mandatory for all Canadians, and those who do not complete it may face penalties ranging from fines to prison sentences.


2011 Canadian census
The Statistics Act mandates a Senate and/or House of Commons (joint) committee review of the opt-in clause (for the release of one's census records after 92 years) by 2014.


2011 Canadian census
The 2011 Census was the fifteenth decennial census and, like other censuses, was required by section 8 of the Constitution Act, 1867. As with other decennial censuses, the data was used to adjust federal electoral district boundaries.


2011 Canadian census
As of August 24, 2011, Canada's overall collection response rate was 98.1%, up over a percentage point from 96.5% in the 2006 Census. Ontario and Prince Edward Island each held the highest response rate at 98.3%, while Nunavut held the lowest response rate at 92.7%.


2011 Canadian census
In an article in the New York Times in August 2015, journalist Stephen Marche argued that by ending the mandatory long-form census in 2011, the federal government "stripped Canada of its capacity to gather information about itself" in the "age of information." Nearly 500 organizations in Canada, including the Canadian Medical Association, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, the Canadian Federation of Students, and the Canadian Catholic Council of Bishops protested the decision to replace the long form Census in 2011 with a shorter version.


2011 Canadian census, Questionnaire revision, Short form
The original schedule of the short-form questions for the 2011 Census of Population was published in the Canada Gazette, Part I on August 21, 2010. The 2011 Census consisted of the same eight questions that appeared on the 2006 Census short-form questionnaire, with the addition of two questions on language. The federal Minister of Industry Tony Clement's announcement that questions about language would appear on the mandatory short-form census came in response to a lawsuit brought by the Federation of Francophone and Acadian Communities, which claimed that the voluntary status of the long-form census would impact language-related government services.


2011 Canadian census, Questionnaire revision, Short form
In addition to possible questions on activity limitation, various organizations called for the following changes to the 2011 census:


2011 Canadian census, Questionnaire revision, National Household Survey
The National Household Survey (NHS) began within four weeks of the May 2011 Census and included approximately 4.5 million households. The information collected by the NHS was intended to replace the data from the previous long-form census questionnaire.


2011 Canadian census, Questionnaire revision, National Household Survey
Various industry professionals indicated that the data collected by the NHS is not comparable with the data previously collected by the long form questionnaire. Many of the same professionals indicated that the data gathered by a voluntary survey would not be of the same quality as the previous mandatory long form.


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
Ahead of the 2011 Census, the Conservative government announced that the long-form questionnaire would no longer be mandatory. This decision was made by the June 17, 2010 Order in Council, created by the Minister of Industry, defining the questions for the 2011 Census as including only the short-form questions. This was published in the Canada Gazette on June 26, 2010; however, a news release was not issued by Minister of Industry Tony Clement until July 13, 2010. This release stated in part "The government will retain the mandatory short form that will collect basic demographic information.


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
To meet the need for additional information, and to respect the privacy wishes of Canadians, the government has introduced the voluntary National Household Survey." On July 30, 2010, Statistics Canada published a description of the , intended to be sent to about 4.5 million households. Industry minister Tony Clement stated that the change to voluntary forms was made because of privacy-related complaints, though he acknowledged that the decision was made without consulting organizations and governments that work closely with Statistics Canada. Clement had previously said that this change was made on the advice of Statistics Canada.


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
The move was criticized by a number of organizations and individuals and was the subject of some satirical articles. Ivan Fellegi, the former Chief Statistician of Canada, originally appointed in 1985 by the Progressive Conservative government of Brian Mulroney, said that he would have quit his job if the government had taken this change during his tenure. He claims that those who are most vulnerable (such as the poor, new immigrants, and Aboriginal peoples) are least likely to respond to a voluntary form, which weakens information about those demographic groups.


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
Munir Sheikh, Fellegi's successor as Chief Statistician appointed by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper on February 15, 2008, resigned on July 21, 2010 in protest of the Conservative government's change in policy. In a public letter, Sheikh wrote that he could not legally comment on what advice he had given the government regarding the census, but he did comment against the government's decision, writing:


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
I want to take this opportunity to comment on a technical statistical issue which has become the subject of media discussion. This relates to the question of whether a voluntary survey can become a substitute for a mandatory census. It cannot.


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
The National Citizens Coalition and the Fraser Institute supported the change.


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
There were groups against the change from all parts of the political spectrum, and including the Federation of Canadian Municipalities; Atlantic Provinces Economic Council; City of Toronto government; National Statistics Council; Canadian Jewish Congress; Evangelical Fellowship of Canada; Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops; Canadian Medical Association; Statistical Society of Canada; the American Statistical Association; Registered Nurses Association of Ontario; Canadian Conference of the Arts; and the governments of Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Manitoba.


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
On July 19, 2010, representatives from several institutions signed  expressing their disapproval of the change and their desire to speak to Clement to find another solution. The organizations represented were:


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
A House of Commons industry committee special hearing on July 27, 2010 heard that during the previous census, out of approximately 12 million forms, 166 complaints were known to be received directly or indirectly.


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
In answer to Clement's claim that those who don't fill out the census risk jail time, Jack Layton, leader of the national New Democratic Party, noted that in the entire history of the census, the government had not prosecuted and jailed a single person for failing to complete the census, and pointed out that the threat could be removed entirely by amending the legislation so that incarceration is no longer a penalty for refusal to complete the census. In response, the government announced plans to introduce legislation to remove the threat of jail time for anyone refusing to fill out any mandatory government surveys.


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
Some groups have argued that the decision was motivated by a wish to destroy a useful tool for social advocacy, by making it harder to identify and count disadvantaged groups. However, the Conservative government maintains that its reasoning for the cancellation is that they do not believe it is appropriate to force Canadians to divulge detailed personal information under threat of prosecution.


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
On October 20, 2010, Statistics Canada predicted that a voluntary long-form would result in a decline of total respondents from 94% to 50%. Consequently, they expect a "substantial risk of non-response bias" and plan to "[adapt their] data collection and other procedures to mitigate as much as possible against these risks." The response rate also led them to predict an increased risk of sampling errors, because only 16% of the Canadian population would be surveyed, as opposed to 19% under a mandatory long-form similar to the one in 2006. The government announced in August 2010 that it would spend$30 million on a campaign aimed at increasing the response rate to the voluntary form, but information released by Statistics Canada in December 2010 revealed that half of this money would be required for tasks unrelated to the promotional campaign.


2011 Canadian census, Voluntary long-form survey controversy
Criticism of the National Household Survey re-emerged in 2013 following the release of the first set of results from the survey.


2011 Canadian census, Reforms since 2011, Private member's bill
In September 2014, Liberal MP Ted Hsu introduced private member's bill "Bill C-626, An Act to amend the Statistics Act" with the intention of appointing a Chief Statistician and reinstatement of the long-form census in Canada. Despite wide support as often happens with private bills, this failed (at Second Reading), in February 2015.


2011 Canadian census, Reforms since 2011, 2016 Amendments
Following the election of the liberal government of Justin Trudeau, the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development introduced in the House of Commons Bill C-36, An Act to Amend the Statistics Act on December 7, 2016. The amendments were passed by Royal Assent on December 13, 2017. The Government of Canada press release stated that the amendments were made to the Statistics Act to "ensure that decisions on statistical matters are transparent and are based on professional considerations."


2011 Canadian census, Reforms since 2011, 2015 reinstatement of Mandatory Long Form Census
One day after its election in November 2015, the new Liberal government reinstated the mandatory Census long form  and it was used in the 2016 Census.


2011 Canadian census, Data releases
The results of short form were released among five census topics on the following dates in 2012:


2011 Canadian census, Data releases
Farm and farm operator data from the Census of Agriculture was released on May 10, 2012.


2011 Canadian census, Data releases
The release dates of the five NHS topics occur on the following dates in 2013:


2011 Canadian electoral calendar
This is a list of elections in Canada in 2011. Included are provincial, municipal and federal elections, by-elections on any level, referendums and party leadership races at any level.


2011 Canadian federal budget
The Canadian federal budget for the 2011–2012 fiscal year  was presented to the House of Commons of Canada by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on March 22, 2011, then again on June 6 following a May 2 election.


2011 Canadian federal budget
On June 13, "the budget passed by a vote of 167 to 131, with four Bloc Québécois MPs voting in support and the other opposition parties voting against it".


2011 Canadian federal budget, Legislative history
All three opposition parties rejected the budget in statements made after the budget speech:


2011 Canadian federal budget, Legislative history
A motion of non-confidence was passed on March 25, 2011. While this motion, which found the government in contempt of Parliament, did not relate specifically to the budget, it had the practical effect of dissolving parliament and killing any legislation under consideration.


2011 Canadian federal budget, Legislative history, Post-election
Federal elections were held May 2, 2011. The Conservatives went from a minority position in the House of Commons to a majority, paving the way for the re-introduction of the measures contained in the budget.


2011 Canadian federal budget, Legislative history, Post-election
Initiatives from the budget were included in 2 draft bills:


2011 Canadian federal election
The 2011 Canadian federal election (formally the 41st Canadian general election)  was held on May 2, 2011, to elect members to the House of Commons of Canada of the 41st Canadian Parliament.


2011 Canadian federal election
The writs of election for the 2011 election were issued by Governor General David Johnston on March 26. Prime Minister Stephen Harper advised the Governor General to dissolve parliament after the House of Commons passed a motion of non-confidence against the government, finding it to be in contempt of parliament. A few days before, the three opposition parties had rejected the minority government's proposed budget.


2011 Canadian federal election
The Conservative Party remained in power, increasing its seat count from a minority to a majority government, marking the first time since 1988 that a right-of-centre party formed a majority government. The Liberal Party won the fewest seats in its history, and party leader Michael Ignatieff was defeated in his riding. The Bloc Québécois lost official party status for the first time since contesting general elections in 1993. Party leader Gilles Duceppe was defeated in his riding and subsequently resigned as leader. The New Democratic Party won the largest number of seats in its history, enabling it to form the Official Opposition for the first time in the party's history. The Green Party elected its first member to the House of Commons with its leader, Elizabeth May, becoming MP for Saanich—Gulf Islands.


2011 Canadian federal election, Background
The 2008 federal election resulted in the continuation of the incumbent Conservative minority government, headed by Stephen Harper. The 40th Parliament was marked by two controversial prorogations: the first in December 2008 which ended an attempted opposition coalition, and the second a year following, which prompted public protests. Following the first prorogation, Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal Party provided support for the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper. On August 31, 2009, the Liberals withdrew their backing but the NDP under Jack Layton abstained and the Conservatives survived the confidence motion. Ignatieff's attempt to force a September 2009 election was reported as a miscalculation, as polls showed that most Canadians did not want another election. Ignatieff's popularity as well as that of the Liberals dropped off considerably immediately afterwards.


2011 Canadian federal election, Background
In 2011, Elections Canada laid charges against the Conservative Party, alleging contraventions of the Canada Elections Act five years earlier. This issue, along with the Bloc Québécois announcing its intention to vote against the budget, unless it contained numerous changes including $2 billion in compensation to Quebec for harmonizing PST and GST and funding for a new NHL arena in Quebec City, increased the speculation that there would be an election called soon as the Conservatives rejected the Bloc demands as "blackmail".


2011 Canadian federal election, Background
On March 9, 2011, Speaker of the House of Commons Peter Milliken ruled that Bev Oda, a minister of the Crown, and, separately, the Cabinet itself could both possibly be in contempt of parliament, the latter for its ongoing refusal to meet opposition requests for details of proposed bills and their cost estimates. Milliken directed both matters to committee and set as the deadline for its report March 21, 2011, one day before the budget was to be tabled. The committee found the government to be in contempt of Parliament.


2011 Canadian federal election, Background
The vote divided along party lines, with the governing but minority Conservative members of Parliament (MPs) opposing the finding and issuing a dissenting report. After the committee released its findings, opposition leader and head of the Liberal Party Michael Ignatieff proposed a motion of no confidence against the Crown-in-Council and, on March 25, 2011, the House of Commons voted on the motion, the majority agreeing, by a margin of 156 to 145, with the committee's conclusions. A cabinet being found in contempt of parliament was without precedent in Canada or any other Commonwealth country. Earlier that week, all three opposition parties had indicated that they would oppose the government's budget; the NDP said that the concessions that the Conservatives made did not go far enough.


2011 Canadian federal election, Results, Summary analysis
Pairing off the top three parties, percentage of seats swung between the parties can be calculated as:


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election
Results by riding. Shading refers to strength of popular vote.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election
Identification of ridings gained by each party, relative to 2008.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election
Identification of ridings lost by each party, relative to 2008.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Overview of results
With an overall voter turnout of 61.4% and 14,823,408 ballots cast, the Conservative Party remained in power, moving from a minority to a majority government by winning 166 of the 308 seats. The New Democratic Party won the largest number of seats in their history, including a large majority of seats in Quebec (where they had previously only ever elected two candidates) and formed the Official Opposition for the first time. The Liberal Party won the fewest seats in their history and party leader Michael Ignatieff was defeated in his own riding.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Overview of results
The Bloc Québécois, which had always won at least a majority of seats in Quebec in every election of their existence, lost nearly all their seats, and thus also their official party status, including the seat of their leader Gilles Duceppe. Green Party leader Elizabeth May became the first Member of Parliament elected to represent the party.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Recounts
Elections Canada ordered three judicial recounts, and an elector initiated a fourth. The Canada Elections Act states that "a judicial recount is required when the difference in votes between the first- and second-place candidates is less than one one-thousandth of the total votes cast in a riding," and allows an elector or candidate in any riding to approach a judge and request a recount regardless of the final result. In all four ridings, Etobicoke Centre, Montmagny—L'Islet—Kamouraska—Rivière-du-Loup, Nipissing—Timiskaming, and Winnipeg North, the validated result was confirmed:


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Opposition party leadership changes
Ignatieff announced on May 3, 2011, that he would step down as leader of the Liberal Party when it choose his successor. Ignatieff took a teaching position at the University of Toronto after his defeat in Etobicoke—Lakeshore. He decided to teach classes in the law faculty, the department of political science, the Munk School of Global Affairs and the School of Public Policy and Governance. Ignatieff stated that, "The life that I like the best is teaching. It's the end of my life as a politician". Bob Rae, Liberal MP for Toronto Centre and former Premier of Ontario (1990 to 1995, as a New Democrat), subsequently became interim leader of the Liberal Party, with a Liberal leadership election which took place April 14, 2013, during which Justin Trudeau was chosen as leader.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Opposition party leadership changes
Duceppe resigned as Bloc Québécois leader on election night following his defeat. Louis Plamondon, MP for Bas-Richelieu—Nicolet—Bécancour and Dean of the House, subsequently became interim parliamentary leader of the Bloc. Former MP Daniel Paillé, who lost his seat in the election, won the Bloc leadership election to succeed Duceppe on December 11, 2011.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Opposition party leadership changes
On July 25, 2011, Jack Layton took a leave of absence to fight a newly diagnosed cancer. Nycole Turmel, former union leader and newly elected MP for Hull—Aylmer, was named interim leader of the New Democratic Party. On August 22, Layton died. Turmel became opposition leader. A leadership election was held on March 24, 2012, and Tom Mulcair was elected leader of the New Democratic Party.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Controversies
The losing parties in the Berthier—Maskinongé riding claimed that the nomination papers for Ruth Ellen Brosseau, the newly elected NDP Member of Parliament for the riding, had irregularities. Some of the alleged irregularities include writing an address instead of signing, missing signatures, people thinking they were signing a petition for the NDP to name a candidate in the riding and one person not remembering that he signed her nomination papers even though he admitted that the signature looks like his. The NDP denied the allegations. Elections Canada has insisted that Brosseau's nomination papers were legitimate. Elections Canada stated that "The decision to overturn or uphold the results is at the discretion of the courts and not Elections Canada".


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Controversies
The Liberal Party of Canada attracted controversy regarding the past racist comments and White supremacist history of one of its candidates in northern Quebec, Andre Forbes. His history as a white supremacist activist and past hate speech against Muslims, First Nations and LGBTQ+ people was uncovered by the NDP. Liberal leader Michael Ignatieff immediately removed Forbes as a candidate.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Controversies, Voter suppression scandal
In early 2012, there were allegations of voter suppression during the election, starting the robocall scandal. Elections Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) investigated claims that robocalls were used in an attempt to dissuade voters from casting their ballot by telling them their poll stations had changed location. While the Elections Canada investigation initially focused on calls sent into Guelph amidst nationwide complaints, the investigation continued to expand in scope and to examine complaints in other ridings across the country. Reports of fraudulent automated or live calls targeting opposition supporters were published in 100 ridings and Elections Canada acknowledged it was investigating telephone election fraud complaints in 247 of Canada's 308 federal ridings.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Controversies, Voter suppression scandal
On March 27, 2012, the Council of Canadians announced that they had launched a lawsuit in the Federal Court of Canada to ask for by-elections to be ordered in seven ridings where complaints were received and where Conservatives had won by slim margins. The ridings named were Don Valley East, Winnipeg South Centre, Saskatoon-Rosetown-Biggar, Vancouver Island North, Yukon, Nipissing-Timiskaming and Elmwood-Transcona. The case was heard over two weeks starting December 9, 2012.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Controversies, Voter suppression scandal
Justice Richard G. Mosley ruled in May 2013 that fraud had occurred in Guelph and that voting irregularities and misconduct occurred in all six of the contested ridings, but that it was not significant enough to warrant overturning the election results. The judge also ruled that the mostly likely source of the fraud was the Conservative Party of Canada's (using the CIMS database) and that there was no evidence that its use was approved by the CPC.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Controversies, Voter suppression scandal
In April 2013, a criminal charge in the matter was laid on Michael Sona, a former Conservative staffer who was the communications officer and official Ottawa liaison for the Guelph Conservative campaign. In August 2014, he was convicted of the charge.


2011 Canadian federal election, Post-election, Controversies, Riding of Vaughan
In a further scandal, Elections Canada was called on to investigate the finances of Associate Minister of National Defence Julian Fantino's election finances after three former Conservative riding executives from Vaughan signed affidavits alleging impropriety in Fantino's 2010 and 2011 election campaigns. They alleged there was a second, secret, illegal bank account containing $300,000.


2011 Canadian federal election, Election campaign, Controversies and gaffes
A number of controversies took place during the election campaign.


2011 Canadian federal election, Election campaign, Leaders' debates
The English- and French-language debates took place on April 12 and 13 respectively.


2011 Canadian federal election, Election campaign, Leaders' debates
On March 29, the consortium of broadcasters playing host to the debates (the CBC, CTV, Global, Radio-Canada and TVA) announced that it would only invite the leaders of the four recognized parties in the House of Commons, namely, the Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, the Bloc Québécois and the New Democratic (NDP). Therefore, the Green Party was excluded, despite earning 6.8 per cent of the popular vote in the 2008 federal election.


2011 Canadian federal election, Election campaign, Leaders' debates
On March 30, Stephen Harper challenged Michael Ignatieff to a one-on-one televised debate. Although Ignatieff accepted the challenge, this was opposed by the other opposition parties. The idea was later rejected by the broadcast consortium and cancelled.


2011 Canadian federal election, Election campaign, Leaders' debates
On April 1, comedian Rick Mercer suggested over Twitter hosting a one-on-one debate between Stephen Harper and Michael Ignatieff at Toronto's Massey Hall. He later added he would donate $50,000 to the charities of their choosing if they were willing to participate. Ignatieff immediately accepted the challenge and named the Alzheimer Society as his charity of choice, as his mother succumbed to Alzheimer's disease in 1992. Harper did not respond to the challenge.


2011 Canadian federal election, Election campaign, Leaders' debates
In an interview with The Globe and Mail published on April 1, Troy Reeb, the broadcast consortium chairman, discussed the process behind setting up the leaders' debates and the rationale for various decisions made, including the decision to exclude the Green Party's leader Elizabeth May.


2011 Canadian federal election, Election campaign, Leaders' debates
On April 5, the Federal Court rejected the Green Party's request for an expedited hearing on the matter prior to the scheduled debates.


2011 Canadian federal election, Election campaign, Leaders' debates
On April 10, the date of the French leaders debate was changed from April 14 to 13 due to worries of broadcasting conflicts with the NHL playoffs scheduled for April 14. Also on April 10, Elizabeth May participated in a panel interview on CHCH-TV in Hamilton, which she was invited to attend, as were the leaders of the Bloc, Liberals, New Democrats and Conservatives, by Channel Zero, whose president was disappointed by May's exclusion from the leaders' debates.


2011 Canadian federal election, Election campaign, Small parties public forum
A joint press conference and public forum was staged by 11 of the 18 registered parties and one unregistered party on April 23, 2011, at York University. Forum organizers invited the leaders from all registered political parties who do not have seats in parliament. Parties were able to explain their platforms and responded to questions from the audience. As a forum, the goal was an inter-party discussion of major issues, however some debate did occur.


2011 Canadian federal election, Election campaign, Small parties public forum
Participants in the forum were the Animal Alliance Environmental Voters, the Canadian Action Party, the Christian Heritage Party, the Communist Party, the First Peoples National, the Libertarian Party, the Marijuana Party, the Marxist–Leninist Party, the Rhinoceros Party, and the Pirate Party.


2011 Canadian federal election, Election campaign, Small parties public forum
Green Party leader Elizabeth May refused to participate in the forum claiming they are not one of "the small, fringe parties".


2011 Canadian federal election, Opinion polls, New Democratic Party surge
In the week before the leaders debate, on April 8, a poll showed the New Democratic Party (NDP) support at 13.2%. A reversal of fortune began on April 16, when an Angus Reid poll indicated a tie in support for the NDP and the Liberals, both polling at 25%. The New Democrats' poll numbers then moved significantly ahead of the Liberals and slightly or moderately behind the Conservatives.


2011 Canadian federal election, Opinion polls, New Democratic Party surge
The surge began in Quebec, with the NDP surprising many observers by surpassing the previously front-running Bloc in Quebec. In the entirety of Canada, the NDP surged past the Liberals to take the second place behind the Conservatives; in Quebec, the NDP took first place. The NDP surge became the dominant narrative of the last week of the campaign, as other parties turned their attacks on the party.


2011 Canadian federal election, Opinion polls, New Democratic Party surge
Ruth Ellen Brosseau, the NDP candidate in Berthier—Maskinongé, won despite not running a campaign, barely speaking French at this time  and being on holiday in Las Vegas at the time of the election. The NDP's rise in popularity was nicknamed "Orange Crush", an allusion to the soft drink with the same name and the party's colour. It was also nicknamed the "Orange Wave".


2011 Canadian federal election, Election spending
Pre -campaign, there are no limits to what a political party, candidate, or third party can spend — spending rules are only in force once the writ is dropped and the campaign has officially begun.


2011 Canadian federal election, Endorsements
Most major newspapers endorsed the Conservatives, and none solely endorsed the Liberals or Greens. Canada's highest circulated newspaper, the Toronto Star, endorsed the NDP but also advised readers to vote against the Conservatives.


2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal
The 2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal (also known as the Robocall scandal, Robogate, or RoboCon) is a political scandal stemming from events during the 2011 Canadian federal election. It involved robocalls and real-person calls that were designed to result in voter suppression. Elections Canada and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) conducted investigations into the claims that calls were made to dissuade voters from casting ballots by falsely telling them that the location of their polling stations had changed. Further possible electoral law violations were alleged as the evidence unfolded. Under the Canada Elections Act, it is an offence  to wilfully prevent or endeavour to prevent an elector from voting in an election.


2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal
On Election Day, May 2, 2011, reports of voter suppression, mostly centred on the riding of Guelph, led to the discovery that a computer in the Guelph Conservative campaign office had possibly been used to make the calls. While the Elections Canada investigation initially focused on calls sent into Guelph amidst nationwide complaints, the investigation expanded to complaints in other ridings across the country.


2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal
Court documents filed in mid-August 2012 by the Commissioner of Canada Elections indicated that the elections watchdog had received complaints of fraudulent or misleading calls in 247 of Canada's 308 ridings, recorded in all ten provinces and at least one territory. The allegations received widespread national media attention, and led to a series of protests in March and April 2012 in at least 27 Canadian cities. April 29, 2012, was termed by protest organizers a "National Day Against Election Fraud".


2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal
On April 24, 2014, Commissioner of Canada Elections Yves Cote issued a press release that stated, "the Commissioner has concluded that, following a thorough investigation by his Office, the evidence is not sufficient to provide reasonable grounds to believe that an offence was committed. Therefore, the Commissioner will not refer the matter to the Director of Public Prosecutions". However, in August 2014 former junior Conservative staffer Michael Sona was found guilty of one violation of the Elections Act.


2011 Canadian federal election voter suppression scandal, Voter suppression in Guelph
In February 2012, Postmedia News and the Ottawa Citizen reported that, during the 2011 Canadian federal election, misleading phone calls were made in at least 14 ridings, including Guelph, Ontario. The calls directed voters to the wrong polling stations. The fraudulent automated calls displayed the phone number of a prepaid "burner phone", registered to a "Pierre Poutine" of "Separatist Street" in Joliette, Quebec. In addition, "Pierre Poutine" also used the alias "Pierre Jones" of pierres1630 at gmail.com, living at the fictional address of 54 Lajoie Nord in Joliette, Quebec.