Halliday, who will take up his role with immediate effect, has almost 25 years of experience in marketing and prior to his new role he spent three years as the senior director of marketing, content and pay per view for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

He is the latest in a number of new faces brought into Skate Canada, including new chief sport officer Patricia Chafe and chief operating officer Bethany Tory.

In June last year, former swimmer Dan Thompson was named as the organisation's new chief executive, followed by the election of Leanna Caron as President at Skate Canada's 100th Annual Convention and General Meeting in Ottawa.

Montreal native Halliday, who is fluent in English and French, spent much of the 1990s as the global manager for the Bauer/Nike Skate division before serving as a brand manager for confectionery firm Cadbury Adams.

He continued his career as senior product manager for Rogers Cable, where he managed premium television products, including dealing with rights holders to negotiate programming.

Before joining the UFC, Halliday worked for the CTV/Rogers 2010 Olympic Broadcast Consortium and helped create integrated multi-platform partnerships for Olympic broadcast sponsors creating digital, broadcast and promotional and general content programmes.

"Mark brings a tremendously rich background to this newly created position," Thompson said.

"He is a seasoned marketer with a passion for athletes, competition and sport, and knows how to build a brand as well as having a keen understanding of the multiple media platforms that is today's marketing reality.

"With this addition and the recent appointments of our new chief sport officer, Patricia Chafe, and chief operating officer, Bethany Tory, we now have a powerful leadership team that I'm certain will guide Skate Canada boldly towards the implementation of the association's 2014 to 2018 strategic plan."

Three-time world champion Patrick Chan will be one of the stars appearing at the 100th Canadian National Skating Championships in Ottawa ©AFP/Getty Images