Introduction

The purpose of this document is to present the policies and procedures of Sport Canada’s Athlete Assistance Program (AAP). The target audience for this document consists of the athletes, coaches and sport administrators who now access or wish to access the program.

In general, the AAP recognizes the commitment athletes make to long-term training and competitive programs and seeks to relieve some of the pressures associated with participation in international sport. In particular, the AAP provides financial assistance to Canadian high-performance athletes. This assistance goes directly to athletes and helps them with their training and competition needs. The AAP is the only Sport Canada program that provides direct financial support to athletes.

The AAP is one of several Sport Canada programs designed to assist in the development of high-performance sport. It is not intended to meet all the needs of Canada’s high-performance athletes. The AAP complements other Sport Canada initiatives, such as support for the sport science program, coaching, National Sport Centres programs and National Team programs; the success of the AAP depends on the coordinated efforts of National Sport Organizations (NSOs), athletes and Sport Canada. 

Sport Canada hopes the AAP will encourage provincial government agencies and provincial sport organizations to assist athletes ranked just below those receiving
AAP funding. Such support would provide continuity in the development of international‑class Canadian athletes.

This document has 13 sections, as follows:

• Section 1: Program Overview
• Section 2: Eligibility for AAP Support
• Section 3: NSO, Athlete and Sport Canada Responsibilities
• Section 4: Allocating Cards to Eligible NSOs
• Section 5: Carding Criteria
• Section 6: Application for and Approval of Cards
• Section 7: Athlete/NSO Agreement
• Section 8: Financial Benefits
• Section 9: Illness, Injury or Pregnancy
• Section 10: Voluntary Withdrawal from the AAP
• Section 11: Withdrawal of Carding Status
• Section 12: Policy on Anti-doping and AAP Support
• Section 13: Appeal Policy

Note: Sport Canada has also developed the Athlete Assistance Program Athlete Handbook, which summarizes the AAP policies and procedures athletes need to know. The Athlete Assistance Program Athlete Handbook is distributed annually to all carded athletes and is available upon request from NSOs and national coaches. Athlete Assistance Program Polices and Procedures is also available on the Sport Canada Web site at http://www.pch.gc.ca/sportcanada.

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