O'Neill served as Chef de Mission for Canada's Atlanta 1996 Paralympic team as well as spending eight years as chief executive of Commonwealth Games Canada and at the Rick Hansen Foundation, which supports people suffering from spinal-cord injuries, from 2004 to 2009.

O'Neill will now turn her attention to building on the third position that Canada took in the medal table at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver at Sochi 2014.

"The timing felt really right," she said.

"A lot of the basics are in place and I was just really excited to come in and help with some of the fine-tuning to really take it up that next level."

Canada's Paralympic athletes finished a disappointing 20th in the medals table at London 2012, winning just seven gold medals compared to the 19 they amassed at Beijing 2008, and O'Neill has seen improving the quality of coaching as a key short-term goal.

Summer Ashley Mortimer was one of few Canada's Paralympians to see success at London 2012, winning two gold, one silver and one bronze medal

"Unlike the Olympics, the number of countries increases by sometimes even double digit numbers from one Paralympics to the next," O'Neill said.

"I think in the short term I really want to be focused on ensuring we've got the best coaches, the best quality daily training environment, and that we work really closely with our sport partners to make sure we can remove some of the obstacles that would either hinder or hamper that kind of focus.

"I want to ensure Paralympic sport is not just an event and not just 10 days every year, every two years or every four years.

"I want to raise the profile of our sports, of our athletes, of our coaches in parasport 365 days a year so that the events capture our imagination and garner a bit more attention."

O'Neill will officially begin her role with the CPC on June 3.

Contact the writer of this story at [email protected]


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