The Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) is a major source of financial support for Canadian amateur high performance athletes. It aims to financially support athletes already at or having the potential to be in the top 16 in the world. This comes in the form of a monthly living and training allowance and where applicable, post secondary school tuition support. The amount available for Whitewater Slalom Canoe/Kayak has also in the past been influenced by the performance of athletes in previous years.
Details on the Nomination Process and Criteria can be found on the website of CanoeKayak Canada under the heading ‘High Performance’:
https://canoekayak.ca/go-paddling/slalom/
In October of each year, the High Performance Committee (HPC) of Canoe Kayak Canada (CKC) Whitewater nominates athletes to Sport Canada for the Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) support according to criteria approved by CKC Whitewater and Sport Canada.
Other Athlete Assistance Programs
These include monetary assistance, legal assistance, special rates/services on telephone, car rental etc…see below.
Ontario Provincial Funding
In Ontario, support to amateur athletes has been provided by the Ontario Government through its “Quest for Gold” lottery. It is awarded as an amount disbursed in 2 payments per year.
www.questforgold.ca and http://www.mtc.gov.on.ca/en/sport/sport/quest-for-gold/quest_for_gold.shtml
Canadian Athletes Now (CANFUND)
This must be applied for by the individual athlete and the award is influenced by higher world ranking, carding status and the amount of money available to dispurse. Funding is not guaranteed if you are on the national team.
Athletes Can Organization
This organization provides a number of services to athletes. Please visit www.athletescan.com
These include
Bell Athletes Connect Program: CanadaInitiated in 1997 in partnership with AthletesCAN, the Athletes Connect program offers comprehensive telecommunications services to Canada’s senior national team athletes currently competing at the Olympic, Paralympic and senior World Championship level.
Sport Solution provides assistance to national team athletes in resolving sports related legal issues and offers support throughout the dispute resolution process. The program also offers athletes guidance on how to prevent conflict and understand the fair administration of sport. Sport Solution responds to the legal needs of athletes on a full range of issues and can provide information about:
Sport Solution
• General Inquiries and Concerns
• NSO Procedures
• How to Prepare for NSO Appeals and Arbitration at the SDRCC
• Your Athlete Agreement
• Corresponding With Your NSO
Team Investors Group Amateur Athlete Fund: In keeping with their commitment to amateur sport in Canada, Investors Group established an Amateur Athlete Bursary Fund for Canada’s top amateur athletes in 2000. Working in partnership with AthletesCAN, the fund awards twenty bursaries of $5,000 to Canadian amateur athletes each year.
Dale Carnegie Speaker Training: The Dale Carnegie Course – Effective Communications and Human Relations is a 9-week course valued at $1,775 and is offered free to current and former national team athletes through AthletesCAN.
Car Rental: Through a strategic partnership with official suppliers National Car Rental and Enterprise Rent-A-Car of Enterprise Holdings, AthletesCAN members and sport partners can now benefit from reduced rates for car rentals across the globe.
Purolator Services: Purolator Inc. and AthletesCAN understand that as high performance athletes, you have high priority shipping needs. Through a new strategic partnership with official supplier Purolator Inc., AthletesCAN members will now benefit from reduced rates on a wide variety of courier services both nationally and internationally.
Others include Health and Dental Benefits and the Sports Information Research Centre.