When Chayla and Chyana signed up for The Amazing Race Canada, they weren’t just looking for an adventure.
The Cree and Métis sisters say the competition became an opportunity to show how resilience, family and healing can carry people through life’s toughest challenges.
Raised primarily in Edmonton, the sisters are the great-granddaughters of Thelma Chalifoux, the first Métis woman appointed to the Senate of Canada. While that family legacy has inspired them, they say it is their own life experiences that have prepared them for one of Canada’s toughest reality competitions.
“We are both very resilient women,” Chayla told MBC News while also reflecting on her journey as a young mother.
“We know that we have the strength and we have the power to do whatever it is that life faces us with.”
Her older sister, Chyana, the author of Soft as Bones and an employee with Indspire, said she immediately thought of Chayla when she decided to apply for the show.
“I was thinking, who could be my person? Immediately my little sister Chayla came to my mind because she’s such a fighter and a go-getter,” she said. “How special would this be to do with my sister?”
The sisters say growing up in a difficult home environment forced them to become adaptable at a young age.
“From the point that Chayla and I were really young, we faced a lot of adversity in our childhood,” Chyana said. “We learned how to become really adaptable… We know how to survive, not just survive, but actually thrive in really high-pressure environments.”
Rather than allowing those experiences to define them, Chyana says they became the foundation for who they are today.
“Coming out of all of that trauma and working so hard to heal ourselves, we’ve become these really vibrant, joyous people who love to laugh and who can see the positive in the struggle.”
For Chayla, she says entering the race wasn’t simply about winning.
“We really just wanted to come in here and have fun with each other and enjoy the bonding that we’ve never got to have as young girls and young kids.”
As viewers prepare for the new season, Chayla hopes people take away more than just who wins each leg of the race.
“I don’t think we’re the only people that have faced really difficult things in life,” she said. “Just keep smiling, keep pushing, keep shining your light, and everything will fall into place.”
Season 12 of The Amazing Race Canada premieres July 7.