Rachel Corbett, the Brock University consultant behind the report, noted Athletics Canada's absence of priorities and planning and an ignorance of basic business procedures such as a failure to get signed contracts for sponsorship agreements.
Other notable negatives include the discovery that AC had no notion of how many athletes there were in Canada as provincial branches wanted to avoid paying dues and would under-report memberships, and the stopping of funding for young athletes after the governing body ran into debt.
Despite the concerning findings, the Canadian national track and field organisation is happy that it made the request for the indepedent assessment some six months ago.
AC chairman Jean-Guy Ouellette, commented: "We knew we had something wrong, but no reason to hide. Now we can turn the page and start this sport on the right track. The attractive thing is that the whole athletics community is behind us."
The painfully honest appraisal, complete with recommendations on how to rebuild the organisation, will be put before the AC annual general meeting in Toronto on December 8-9.
Among the opinions to be put forward at that meeting are a need to appoint a permanent head coach for the national team and a chief executive officer with a background in business rather than sport.
The embarrassing factors brought up by the report follow Canada's hosting of this year's World Athletics Championships in Edmonton which was heavily criticised for its low spectator turn-out.
