Climbing Escalade Canada (CEC) is pleased to announce its athlete nominations for the 2026/27 Sport Canada Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) carding cycle.
The Athlete Assistance Program is a Sport Canada program that provides financial support to eligible high-performance athletes who are progressing toward, or achieving, international performance objectives. Athletes are nominated by their National Sport Organization in accordance with published, Sport Canada-approved carding criteria, with final approval of all nominations resting with Sport Canada.
CEC was initially allocated the equivalent of two Senior Cards for this carding period. We were recently advised by Sport Canada that our allocation has increased to the equivalent of three Senior Cards, providing additional support for Canadian climbing athletes within the national high-performance system.
Following application of the published 2026/27 AAP Carding Nomination Criteria to performances achieved during the evaluation period, CEC is pleased to put forward four athlete nominations:
Oscar Baudrand — Senior Card (SR)
Madison Richardson — Senior Card (SR)
Matthew Rodriguez — Development Card (D)
Ethan Pitcher — Development Card (D)
During the final stages of the evaluation period, CEC also identified an interpretation issue associated with World Climbing’s evolving Speed competition format. Following consultation with Sport Canada, CEC has applied the carding criteria according to the original performance intent under which the policy was developed. The wording of the Speed criteria will be further clarified in the next AAP carding policy cycle to reflect the evolving international competition format.
CEC’s objective throughout the nomination process is to maintain a fair, transparent and performance-based approach to athlete carding.
The 2026/27 AAP Carding Nomination Criteria and the 2026/27 AAP Carding Nomination Dashboard, which provides further detail on the application of the criteria and athlete nominations, are available on the CEC National Team webpage.
