The Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) is the only Sport Canada program that provides direct financial support to athletes. This support seeks to alleviate some of the financial pressures associated with preparing for and participating in international sports, and helps Canadian high-performance athletes combine their sports and academic or work careers while training intensively to achieve world-class performance. Canadian sports institutes and centers were created in partnership between Sport Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC), the Canadian Coaches Association (CAC) and provincial governments. Under this law, the now-defunct Department of National Health and Welfare, through its new Fitness and Amateur Sports Program, was responsible for granting grants to any organization that carried out activities in the field of physical conditioning or amateur sports.
Dubin's investigation proved to be a fundamental event in the history of Sport Canada, following the Ben Johnson doping scandal and national embarrassment. For much of its existence, the responsibility of Sport Canada fell to a junior Cabinet minister who reported to the Minister of Canadian Heritage. Sport Canada's mission is to improve opportunities for all Canadians to participate and excel in sports. The COPSI Network supports the development of high-performance sports in Canada through a network of training environments, as well as through collaboration with the National Sports Organization, national partners, provincial and local governments and the private sector to provide more opportunities for high-performance athletes and coaches.
The Government of Canada, through Sport Canada, invests funds and effort in athletes and sporting events nationwide through the Sports Support Program (SSP). The Government of Canada participates in sports primarily through programs and policies administered by the Department of Canadian Heritage. Supporting the sports system involves many stakeholders, including the Government of Canada, the private sector, provincial and territorial governments, multi-sport service organizations, and national sports organizations. Therefore, it is important that NSOs closely follow the criteria to prevent Sport Canada from refusing to do so.
Sport Canada is a branch of the Department of Canadian Heritage that develops federal sports policy in Canada, provides funding programs in support of sports and manages special sports-related projects. To apply to this program, you must contact your National Sports Organization for application forms and related information. However, athletes who play sports outside the SFAF can access support from the AAP if their performance is among the 16 best in the World Championships, the Olympic Games or the Paralympic Games at an event in the program of the next Olympic or Paralympic Games. Sport Canada controlled sixty-five national sports organizations (NSO) in 1991, as the fundamental agency in every category of sport in Canada.
National multi-sport service organizations (MSOs) are organizations that focus on the coordination, execution and delivery of services to the Canadian sports community.
