Canada Sevens coach Geraint John has been forced to make two late changes to his Pan American Games Sevens squad prior to the team's departure for the tournament in Gudalajara, Mexico.
Kyle Gilmour and Adam Kleeberger have been ruled out of the tournament by medical staff, to be replaced by Tyler Ardron and Sean White.
Kleeberger's ommission means that there are now seven members of Canada's Rugby World Cup 2011 squad - Conor Trainor, Nanyak Dala, Nathan Hirayama, Ciaran Hearn, Taylor Paris, Matt Evans and Mike Scholz - heading to Guadalajara for the Games.
"We are always looking to develop players and sometimes circumstances require you to bring new players into the fold, like Tyler Ardron, who is yet to represent Canada on the international sevens circuit," John said. "But Tyler is fit and athletic and very good on the restart. He shows great potential in Sevens.
"Sean White has played at scrum half and hooker on the Sevens World Series for Canada and he has just returned from the Rugby World Cup, so we're confident in our replacements."
Gilmour suffered a broken arm during a club game for St. Alberts in Alberta, while medical staff advised Kleeberger a further week of rest was necessary following a demanding Rugby World Cup in which he started all four pool games for Canada.
"When Adam finally got back to Canada he was physically and mentally exhausted from the tournament," John said. "We discussed with the medical staff and they felt it was best he had another seven days off."
Canada will face USA, Brazil and Chile in the pool stages of the tournament in Mexico on 29 October with the medal matches on 30 October. The other pool consists of Argentina, Uruguay, Guyana and Mexico.
"The games will be hard but we're going in with a genuine chance of winning it," John said. "We've got a lot of speed with guys like Conor Trainor, Matt Evans, Ciaran Hearn, Sean Duke and Taylor Paris. We've got speed, power and experience."
The Pan American Games features international teams from all around the Americas zone and is integral to the development of Sevens, for both the sport and all the competing teams, in preparation for Olympic inclusion in Rio de Janiero in 2016.
Canada Sevens squad to represent Team Canada at Pan Am Games:
Tyler Ardron (Peterborough, ON) (Ontario Blues)
Nanyak Dala (Saskatoon, SK) (Prairie Wolf Pack)
Sean Duke (Vancouver, BC) (British Columbia)
Matt Evans (Duncan, BC) (Unattached)
Ciaran Hearn (Conception Bay, NFLD) (The Rock)
Nathan Hirayama (Richmond, BC) (British Columbia)
Phil Mack (Victoria, BC) (The Rock)
John Moonlight (Pickering, Ontario) (Ontario Blues)
Taylor Paris (Barrie, ON) (Ontario Blues)
Mike Scholz (Oakville, ON) (Ontario Blues)
Conor Trainor (Vancouver, BC) (British Columbia)
Sean White (Victoria, BC) (BC Bears)
