General

Ottawa, ON (November 4, 2025) 

1961 -  

Introduced to badminton at the age of ten by Jean-Claude Laprise, Johanne Falardeau experienced a meteoric progression. She became Quebec Provincial junior champion in the under nineteen category three years later and made it to the national team at the age of 15. The following year, she won the triple crown (singles, doubles, mixed) at the Canadian Junior Championships. Her first international success came at the 1978 Commonwealth Games where she won a silver medal in the mixed team event. In 1979, she became the Pan American champion in both singles and mixed team events.  

Johanne made it to the 1981 and 1983 World Championships quarterfinals in women’s doubles. 

Johanne and partner Claire Backhouse won the gold medal in women’s doubles at the 1982 Commonwealth Games. Additionally, she won silver and bronze in the same discipline at future Games. She became the national champion seven times between 1982 and 1990.  

Reaching finals multiple times in international tournaments, she became champion in French Open, U. S. Open, Canada Open and Victor Cup and had some runner-up performances in Bells Open, Scottish Open and Carlton Cup as well.  

After retiring, Johanne stayed involved in badminton helping up and coming players. She attended the 1987 and 1991 Canada Winter Games for Quebec as Manager and Coach respectively. 

 

Recognitions: 

1982 Nordic Foundation Athlete of the Year  

1996 Badminton Quebec Hall of Fame 

  

Achievements: 

4 Commonwealth Games (Gold, Silver and Bronze medals in Women’s Doubles, 4 Silver medals in the team event) 

5 Uber Cups 

Pan American Champion 

 7-time National Champion 

1978 Canadian Under 19 Championships Triple Crown Winner  

 

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For more information or media inquiries please contact:   

Bryan R. Merrett   

Executive Director   

613-518-1501, X2083   

bmerrett@badminton.ca   

 

About Badminton Canada   

With shuttles reaching speeds as high as 565 kph, badminton attracts more than 220 million people worldwide to play the sport weekly, making badminton the second most participated-in sport in the world. Badminton Canada works to grow the game across the country through events, coaching and officials’ development, and developing programs such as Shuttletime. In Canada, over 2 million people picked up a badminton racquet and played our sport. Some play at the cottage, some in the backyard, at school, the local community centre or as part of an organized Badminton Canada competition. Badminton is easily accessible – for any Canadian – at any age – for life!