Milne first appeared and competed as part of the national team at the 2006 IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, where he placed twenty-eighth in the men's senior eight kilometre run. In 2008, he set his personal best time and an equal Olympic A-standard of 3:36.00 by winning the 1500 metres at the Harry Jerome International Track Classic in Burnaby, British Columbia, which earned him a qualifying spot for the Summer Olympics in Beijing. Two weeks later, Milne captured his another title and set a new championship meet record of 3:38.03 at the Canadian Track and Field Championships in Windsor, Ontario, to fully secure his place for the Olympics, along with fellow athletes Nathan Brannen and Kevin Sullivan, who considered to be his personal hero.