Early years In 1953, the Canadian Volleyball Association (CVA) was formed, joining
FIVB the same year. That year, the first national volleyball championship was held as well. Canada's first appearance at a major international competition was at the
1959 Pan American Games, held in
Chicago. Canada finished 6th in the tournament, after finishing 3rd in their group and failing to advance to the final group. In 1968, Canada joined
NORCECA, two years after it was formed. They competed in their first
NORCECA championship in 1969, finishing 4th.
1970s In 1973, at their second NORCECA championship, Canada won the bronze medal. A year later, they competed at their first
FIVB World Championships, in
Mexico. Canada finished last in their group in the first round, losing all three matches in straight sets. In the classification round, they finished 3rd, finishing below both Tunisia and the United States. In the final classification round, Canada finished 2nd in the group, placing them 20th overall in the tournament. Canada qualified for their first-ever
Olympic tournament in
1976 as hosts. They finished bottom of their group in the group stage, losing in straight sets in every match, and ending up in 9th place overall. The next year, Canada appointed
Ken Maeda as the head coach, and in the team's first competition under him, they won bronze at the 1977 NORCECA Championship. In
1978, Canada finished 20th out of 24 teams at the World Championships. At the
1979 Pan American games, Canada won bronze, winning five matches while losing two in the tournament.
1980s At the 1981 NORCECA championship, Canada finished 3rd, beating
Mexico in the bronze medal match. The next year, Canada competed in their 3rd
FIVB World Championship, held in
Argentina. They finished top of their group in the first round, ahead of
East Germany and
Italy on their set ratio. In the second group round, Canada finished 5th in their group, knocking them out of medal contention and ranking them 11th place in the tournament. The following year at the 1983 NORCECA Championships, they won the silver medal, finishing below the
United States. In
1984, Canada competed at the
Olympic Games for the second time in their history. They finished top of their group ahead of Italy and
Japan on their set ratio in the group stage, advancing them to their first Olympic semi-final appearance. They met the United States in the semis, losing in straight sets, sending them to the bronze medal match where they lost to Italy again. Their 4th place finish at the tournament stands as their highest ever Olympic finish. Canada finished 3rd at the NORCECA Championship in 1985 and 1987, and finished 2nd at the 1989 NORCECA Championship while failing to qualify for the
1986 FIVB World Championships.
1990s Canada competed at the
1990 FIVB World Championships in
Brazil, finishing 3rd in their group in the group stage. In the round of 16, Canada lost to
France in four sets, sending them to the classification bracket, where they lost in five sets to both
Czechoslovakia and Japan. Canada finished the tournament in 12th place. The next year, Canada competed in the
FIVB World League for the first time. They finished bottom of their group with 18 points over 16 games and finished the tournament in last place. That same year, Canada hosted the NORCECA Championship for the first time, with the tournament taking place in
Regina. Canada finished 3rd in the tournament, and qualified for the
1992 Summer Olympics in
Barcelona. At the Olympics, they finished 5th in their group, failing to make it to the quarterfinals and finishing the tournament in last place. In 1993, Canada finished in 3rd place at the NORCECA Championship, beating
Puerto Rico in the bronze medal match. At the
1994 FIVB World Championships, Canada lost out in the round of 16 after finishing 3rd in their group, finishing the tournament tied for 9th place. At both the 1995 and 1997 NORCECA Championships, Canada finished with bronze, beating Puerto Rico and Mexico in both respective bronze medal matches. At the
1998 FIVB World Championship, Canada began the tournament finishing 3rd in their group in the first round. In the second group round, Canada finished 5th in their group, failing to make it to the semi-finals. Canada finished the tournament in 12th place, losing to
Ukraine and
Argentina in the classification matches. Canada returned to World League in
1999 for the first time since 1992, finishing in 8th place. At the
NORCECA Championship, Canada finished with bronze, beating Mexico in the bronze medal match in five sets. Canada also won bronze in the
1999 Pan American Games in
Winnipeg, beating Argentina in their final match.
2000s In the
2000 World League season, Canada finished in 11th place. The next year, at the
2001 NORCECA Championship, they finished with bronze, beating
Dominicana in their final match. At the
2002 FIVB World Championship, Canada finished 3rd in the first group stage but did not advance to the second group round. They finished 17th overall in the tournament. In
2003, Canada finished with a silver medal at the NORCECA Championship, losing to the United States in the final, and in
2005 they finished with a bronze medal in the same tournament. In 2006, Canada competed in the
FIVB World Championship held in
Japan. They began the tournament finishing 3rd in their group, advancing past the preliminaries to the main round. There, they placed 6th in their group, knocking them out of medal contention. In the classification matches, Canada lost to the United States in 5 sets but beat Puerto Rico in 4 sets to place 11th overall in the competition. The following year, Canada placed 13th in World League, after finishing bottom of their group with two wins in 12 matches. In the
2007 and
2009 editions of the NORCECA Championship, Canada were held off of the podium for the first time since 1975, finishing in 4th place both years.
2010–2016 At the
2010 FIVB World Championship, Canada finished tied for 19th, losing out in the first group round. The following year Canada competed in World League again, placing 12th overall. The same year, Canada won bronze at the
NORCECA Championship, beating Puerto Rico in the deciding match. Canada finished 5th overall in the
2013 World League season, and later that year Canada finished with silver in the
NORCECA Championship, losing to the United States in the final. In 2014, Canada competed in the
FIVB World Championship in
Poland. Canada opened the tournament with a loss in straight sets to
Russia before beating
Bulgaria in five sets. Canada then went on to beat the remaining teams in the group all in straight sets to claim the second-ranked spot in the group, advancing to the second round. Canada started the second round off well, beating
Cuba in 5 sets before defeating
Finland in three straight. However, following two straight-set losses to
Brazil and
Germany, Canada finished fourth in the group and did not advance to the third round. Canada's finished the world championship in 7th place, a record for the national team. In 2015, Canada hosted the
Pan American Games. At the tournament, Canada finished top of their group, advancing to the semifinals. There they faced Argentina, and lost in four sets, sending Canada to the bronze medal match to face Puerto Rico. They were successful and defeated them in four sets, winning Canada's 3rd Pan-American bronze medal. In the
2016 World League season, Canada finished top of Group 2, advancing to the Final Round. In the Final Round, they beat
Turkey in the semifinals in three sets, and defeated
Portugal in the final in three straight. This win qualified Canada for Group 1 in the 2017 World League for the first time. Following the successful World League campaign, Canada competed in the Olympic Qualifiers. Canada began the tournament with two five-set losses to
Poland and
Iran, before beating
Australia in five sets. Canada then went on to beat
Venezuela before falling to France in straight sets. They then closed out the tournament with back-to-back wins over Japan and
China, in four and five sets respectively. This was good enough for a 4th place finish in the tournament, qualifying Canada for their first Olympics in 24 years. At the
2016 Summer Olympics, Canada started out strongly, beating USA in three straight sets. However, they failed to defeat the host Brazil, falling to them in four sets, while following that match up with a straight-set loss to France in their 3rd group match. In their 4th match, Canada defeated Mexico in four sets, setting up a must-win final group stage match against Italy. Canada beat Italy in four sets, led by
Gavin Schmitt's match-high 23 points. This result placed Canada 2nd in their group and set up a quarterfinal matchup against Russia. However, they were unable to advance past the Russians, losing in three straight sets. Canada finished the tournament in 5th place, their highest Olympic finish since 1984.
2017–present Following
Glenn Hoag's retirement as head coach,
Stephane Antiga was hired as Hoag's successor. At the
2017 World League, Canada played with a much younger team than was on display at the Olympics the previous year. With the retirements of many leaders within the squad, Antiga looked to younger talent such as
Ryley Barnes and
Sharone Vernon-Evans to step up and contribute. Canada began their 2017 World League with a strong first week, beating both
Belgium and the reigning Olympic Bronze medalists USA in five sets, while losing to
Serbia. In week two, Canada won three points against Bulgaria, while losing their other two matches in four sets. In the final week, Canada beat Belgium and Italy, gaining 5 out of a possible 9 points for the week, which was enough for them to finish in 5th place and qualify for the final round. Canada lost their first match of the final round to the host Brazilians, before defeating the Russians in straight sets, sending Canada to the semi-finals. There they met France and lost in four sets. In the bronze medal match, Canada faced USA, and after losing the first set Canada went on to win three straight and claim their first-ever World League medal. At the conclusion of the tournament, both
Graham Vigrass and
Blair Bann were selected as tournament all-stars. == Competitive record ==