he Honourable Bal Gosal, Minister of State (Sport), today announced improvements to the Athlete Assistance Program (AAP), the Harper Government’s sport funding program that assists athletes with living and educational expenses while they train and compete.

“Our Government recognizes that Canada’s top athletes make great sacrifices to compete for our country, and for this reason, we are pleased to continue our record-level support for the Athlete Assistance Program,” said Minister of State Gosal. “The improvements announced today will ensure that our athletes continue to reach the podium, while recognizing the need to adapt to the ever-changing high-performance landscape.”

The number of carded athletes and overall program budget will remain consistent with previous years, while providing increased flexibility to Canada’s national sport organizations to allow them to maximize the resources available on an annual basis.

Improvements include increased financial support for top performing athletes, athletes with child dependents, as well as additional support for Paralympic athletes with high support needs.

The improvements to the AAP policies and procedures were determined after a two-year consultation process between Sport Canada and the high-performance sport community. These consultations included input from individual athletes and coaches, as well as representatives of national sport organizations, multisport organizations, Canadian Sport Centres, AthletesCAN, the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canadian Paralympic Committee Athlete Councils, and Own the Podium....

Article Link: https://www.pch.gc.ca/eng/1349360990560