The Invictus Games haven’t started yet, but Nova Scotia veteran Colin Chabassol says the experience has already been life changing.
“Mentally, the biggest one is being part of a team again. When you’re in the military, you have a big team, you’re always around people. Then when you get out, your circle gets pretty small,” he said.
Born and raised in Pictou County, N.S., Chabassol served in the Canadian Armed Forces for 15 years in the infantry trade. The army veteran served three tours in Afghanistan before retiring in 2020. The career left Chabassol with physical and mental injuries, like post-traumatic stress disorder. He says he’s feeling “a lot better” now.
“Invictus Games probably changed my life in so many ways,” Chabassol explains. “You have something to look forward to. A lot of people, when they get out, they have no plan in place or they’re not sure what direction they want to go in. That was me in 2020. So this gave us (the team), everyone a direction.”
The Invictus Games is a week-long competition for wounded, injured and sick soldiers. Up to 550 athletes from 25 different countries are scheduled to participate when the games begin on Canada’s west coast in February.
“I was sitting on the couch and saw (an ad for) it pop up through Soldier On that they were accepting applications. I decided to give it a go, see what would happen,” Chabassol says.
Soldier On is a C.A.F. program that provides serving and retired members the opportunity to participate in a sport or other active lifestyle to help them overcome mental or physical injury. In December 2023, Chabassol applied for the 2025 Invictus Games in British Columbia.
“Being part of the Invictus Games, (it) really opens your perspective. You’re able to interact with people. Everyone is on the same page. No one is being negative. Everyone is dealing with the same things in one way or another,” Chabassol says.
He found out he got accepted in February 2024. The next month training started. Over the past year he has attended training camps in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., as well as Kingston, O.N.

“The first one was just to meet everybody, get some briefs, but to also actually see what all the sports were. You get to try everything before you make a decision on what sports you want to do. By the second camp, we had our sports picked, so we started specific training at camp,” he says.
Chabassol will be competing in wheelchair rugby, biathlon, indoor rowing and skeleton.
“Wheelchair rugby is just a fun all around, and it’s a team sport, so I like the idea of that. There’s strategy to it. It’s a game. It’s like playing hockey, it’s just on a smaller scale,” Chabassol says.
It’s also a full circle moment. Through Invictus, he has reconnected with other veterans he met during his career. At one point, Chabassol was an instructor at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Q.C. One of his former students, Nova Scotian Erica Zadow, will also be competing in indoor rowing and skeleton. More than a dozen veterans with ties to Atlantic Canada will be a part of the country’s team.
“I don’t think it has really sunk in yet, to be honest. I think it’s really going to sink in when the wife and I get on a flight (to Vancouver) in February,” he says.

His wife, Valerie Chabassol, who has served in the Navy, agrees the games have given her husband a new lease on life.
“I get emotional just thinking about it,” says Valerie Chabassol. “Because it’s something that did change his life. We were pretty stagnant in our life back at the house. It’s something that came at the perfect time. When he found out that he was going to be part of Team Canada, it just totally changed his spirit, his mood. He decided right then to start working out and really putting the effort in. It’s been incredible to watch him.”
Despite this change, Colin only plans to compete in the Invictus Games once, saying he’d like to leave the opportunity open for other veterans. He does have advice for anyone who applies.
“Be honest with yourself when you fill out the application. Be honest with everything you put onto it, because it’s a time to open up,” he says.
The Invictus Games will be held in Vancouver and Whistler from Feb. 8 to 16.
For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page