InterFulfillment’s vital role as part of the village that gets Team Canada to the Olympic Games

When we’re watching Team Canada athletes compete at the Olympic Games, we all know that there’s a team behind them that helped get them there. That typically brings to mind coaches, medical staff, and family support systems. Few of us likely think about all the logistics professionals involved in getting Team Canada to the Games—and that’s the way they want it.

The thing about logistics is that, when they’re done right, they’re practically invisible.

For the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the Canadian Olympic Committee was searching for additional help to carry out shipping logistics, particularly surrounding the team clothing kit.

Enter InterFulfillment, a Canadian-owned and operated business. InterFulfillment is a third-party logistics order fulfillment company, meaning that they can store, pack, and ship orders on behalf of other businesses and organizations. The COC engaged InterFulfillment for logistics assistance for Beijing.

When the logistics for Beijing 2022 went so well, the COC and InterFulfillment made it official and leading into the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, InterFulfillment became the Official Order Fulfillment Logistics partner of Team Canada.

For members of the COC’s team, what really stands out about InterFulfillment is the personal customer service.

“We’re not a ticket number. We’re connecting with Scott [Kelly] and he’ll help us figure something out, ” said Hayley Wyatt, Coordinator, Games at the COC. “It’s always super professional and delivered at such a high level.”

“I’ve been a huge sports fan my entire life,” said Scott Kelly, Project Coordinator at InterFulfillment. “So just being a part of this partnership is pretty cool.”

Team announcements—marking the day that athletes are officially nominated to Team Canada for their respective sports—are one of the big projects on which InterFulfillment assists the COC.

For Paris 2024, there were 38 different team announcements. There will be close to 20 team announcements for Milano Cortina 2026. For some, athletes are in various locations across Canada. For others, athletes are abroad attending competitions. The turnaround time from when the COC receives the official roster from the respective National Sport Organization to the team announcement day—when athletes need to be wearing the team announcement kit—can be very short. The gear needs to reach wherever in the world those athletes are, which can be logistically complex.

But Wyatt says that not only does InterFulfillment always come through, most of the time they are able to get the items there with extra time to spare.

“InterFulfillment is really expert in ensuring that everything is picked and packed according to our requests, and delivers in a timely manner, whether it’s overseas or domestically” said Yena Kim, Project Manager, Games at the COC. “We really lean on their support to make sure things get places fast.”

“We thrive on the time-sensitive nature of these projects,” said Elecia Brazeau, InterFulfillment’s Chief Operating Officer. “The tighter the deadline, the more complicated the project, the more we love it.”

In addition to tight timelines and complex geography, gearing up Team Canada is no small feat. For Paris 2024, over 700 team kits, tallying up to more than 17,000 individual items passed through InterFulfillment’s system on behalf of the COC.

Both InterFulfillment and COC team members describe the partnership as that of teammates, helping each other to deliver the best possible experience for Canadian athletes—hopefully a logistics experience so smooth it renders itself invisible.

But for everyone involved, it feels personal.

“When athletes get their Olympic kits, it’s such a proud moment in their careers because there’s so much build up to that moment, and it starts to feel real,” said Brazeau. “When we see these athletes on TV wearing the gear that we had the honour of packing for them, it is so special.”

The InterFulfillment team takes pride in knowing their hands are one of the first to touch each Team Announcement Kit, carefully picking, packing, and bundling every item to ensure it arrives on time and in the right size. Their attention to detail means every athlete receives what they need to feel confident and ready as they step into the spotlight.

Similarly, one of the most cherished mementoes of their Olympic experience for Team Canada athletes is the Team Canada Olympic ring they receive post-Games, sized and customized specifically for them.

“That was very special. [The rings are] unique for each athlete, so there’s precision involved in making sure the exact athlete gets their exact ring,” said Brazeau.

The InterFulfillment team has kept a tally of all the medals that Team Canada has won since they’ve been involved with supporting athletes.

“They’re not our wins, but we feel very connected,” Brazeau added. “Canadian athletes are tremendous competitors and they’re known for being just all around amazing people too. They’ve worked so hard to get to where they are, and so of course it takes a whole village. And we’re part of that village, as a proudly Canadian owned and operated business.”