National Team Resources
Rankings, documents and more.
AAP Carding Nominations
Sport Canada Athlete Assistance Program — who is eligible and how nominations are ranked
This page explains how Canada Snowboard nominates National Team athletes for Sport Canada’s Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) carding for 2027–28: the card values, who is eligible, the priority tiers, and how the final nomination order is decided. It summarizes the official Carding Nomination Eligibility and Criteria Sheet.
Allocation & card values
The total carding allocation for 2027–28, and what each card is worth.
- HPP Directors (Speed, and Park & Pipe)
- HPP Coordinator
Who can be nominated?
An athlete has to clear these basics before any carding criteria apply.
- PSL (Parallel Slalom) results count for Senior National and Development criteria only, as noted.
- Team event results are not eligible for carding nominations.
- As indicated in the Canada Snowboard High Performance Program General Selection Policy (GSP).
- Be named as a team member of the 2027-28 Canada Snowboard HPP, which is the National Team or the NextGen Team. HPP selection protocols for all disciplines are in the Document Centre: canadasnowboard.ca/en/docs.
- Complete an AAP Application Form
- Sign the Canada Snowboard Athlete Agreement for the HPP program year
- Sign the UCCMS Informed Consent Form (Universal Code of Conduct to Prevent and Address Maltreatment in Sport)
- Complete the Sport Integrity Canada online anti-doping courses (True Sport Clean) for the year
How the card tiers work
Every card level has a ranked list of “priorities.” Priority 1 is filled first; leftover cards flow down to Priority 2, then 3, and so on. Choose Olympic or Paralympic disciplines.
Senior International — SR1 & SR2
- Priority 1 (SR1)
Place in the Top 8 and within the top half (1/2) of the field at the 2027 FIS Snowboard World Championships (WCH) in your discipline.
- Priority 2 (SR2)
Placed in the Top 8 and within the top half (1/2) of the field at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympic Games (OLY) in your discipline.
Senior National — SR
- Priority 1
A. Top third (1/3) of the field at one (1) of the following competitions during the 2026-2027 season:
- FIS World Cup
- 2027 FIS Snowboard World Championships
- an 800+ point WSPL event (Park and Pipe)
- a Freeride World Tour (FWT) event
B. Athletes named to the HPP who meet the “Health Related Curtailment of Activities” criteria and who were carded during the previous carding cycle at the Senior (SR2, SR) level.
- Priority 2
A. Top half (1/2) of the field at one (1) of the following competitions during the 2026-2027 season:
- FIS World Cup
- 2027 FIS Snowboard World Championships
- an 800+ point WSPL event (Park and Pipe)
- a Freeride World Tour (FWT) event
and finish the season ranked within the Top 35 in the world on their respective discipline rankings as of the latest FIS Points List (Speed) or WSPL (Slopestyle / Halfpipe) at the conclusion of the 2026-2027 season (May 31, 2027); or qualify for the Freeride World Tour (FWT) for the 2027-28 season.
Only rankings on the Slopestyle WSPL are used for Slopestyle/Big Air athletes. The Parallel (PAR) list is used for Alpine athletes. - Priority 3
A. Athletes named to the Freeride National Team who place in the top third (1/3) of the field at a Natural Selection Tour event.
Athletes must commit to the Olympic Qualification Pathway to be named to the Freeride National Team and to be eligible for carding through this priority.
Development — D
- Priority 1
A. Top half (1/2) of the field at one (1) of the following competitions during the 2026-2027 season:
- FIS World Cup
- 2027 FIS Snowboard World Championships
- an 800+ point WSPL event (Park and Pipe)
- Priority 2
A. Podium (Top 3) at the 2027 FIS Junior World Championships (JWCH) in their respective discipline.
- Priority 3
A. Rank in the Top 3 on their respective 2026-27 Nor-Am Tour Overall Ranking or Freeride Challenger Series Tour Overall; or
B. Place in the Top 8 and within the top third (1/3) of the field at the 2027 FIS Junior World Championships (JWCH).
- Priority 4
A. Remaining cards go to the highest-ranked Development-eligible athletes on the Canada Snowboard ‘Athlete Ranking’; or
B. Athletes named to the HPP who meet the “Health Related Curtailment of Activities” criteria and who were carded the previous year at the Development (D) level.
Senior International — SR1 & SR2
- Priority 1 (SR1)
Place in the Top 8 and within the top half (1/2) of the field in their respective Sport Classification at the 2027 FIS Para Snowboard World Championships (PWCH).
- Priority 2 (SR2)
Placed in the Top 8 and within the top half (1/2) of the field in their respective Sport Classification at the 2026 Paralympic Games (POLY).
Senior National — SR
- Priority 1
A. Podium finish and within the top half (1/2) of the field in their respective Sport Classification at one of the following competitions during the 2026-27 season:
- FIS Para World Cup
- 2027 FIS Para Snowboard World Championships
B. Athletes named to the HPP who meet the “Health Related Curtailment of Activities” criteria and who were carded during the previous carding cycle at the Senior (SR2, SR) level.
“Respective Sport Classification” means the sport class the athlete is classified under (e.g. Men’s LL1, Women’s LL2). - Priority 2
Top third (1/3) of the field in their respective Sport Classification at one (1) of the following competitions during the 2026-2027 season:
- FIS Para World Cup
- 2027 FIS Para Snowboard World Championships
“Respective Sport Classification” means the sport class the athlete is classified under (e.g. Men’s LL1, Women’s LL2). - Priority 3
Top half (1/2) of the field in their respective Sport Classification at one (1) of the following competitions during the 2026-2027 season:
- FIS Para World Cup
- 2027 FIS Para Snowboard World Championships
“Respective Sport Classification” means the sport class the athlete is classified under (e.g. Men’s LL1, Women’s LL2).
Development — D
- Priority 1
Top half (1/2) of the field in their respective Sport Classification at one (1) of the following competitions during the 2026-2027 season:
- FIS Para World Cup
- 2027 FIS Para Snowboard World Championships
This priority is only used if there are no longer any Senior (SR) cards available for athletes who have met Priority 3 of the Senior (SR) carding criteria above.“Respective Sport Classification” means the sport class the athlete is classified under (e.g. Men’s LL1, Women’s LL2). - Priority 2
A. Remaining cards are awarded to the highest-ranked Development-eligible athletes based on the Canada Snowboard ‘Athlete Ranking’, using ‘Athlete Points’ in either Para Snowboardcross or Banked Slalom; or
B. Athletes named to the HPP who meet the “Health Related Curtailment of Activities” criteria and who were carded the previous year at the Development (D) level.
How nominations are ranked
Meeting a priority puts you in line. Your Athlete Points set your position within that line.
Building the Athlete Points Ranking
- Olympic and Paralympic athletes are ranked separately.
- Within a priority, the order is set by the cross-discipline Canada Snowboard Athlete Ranking List (‘Athlete’s Points’). It is built internally from the FIS Points List (Speed), the World Snowboard Points List (WSPL), the FIS Points List (Park & Pipe) and the Freeride World Tour (FWT) ranking.
- Everyone is ranked on the same points scale as the FIS Points rules (1000 for 1st, 900 for 2nd, etc.). Any FIS World Cup (or higher) event, non-FIS FWT event, or 800+ WSPL points event uses the same point distribution.
- Your best two results are averaged, the same rule as the FIS Points List. The scale is on page 5 of the “Rules of the FIS Points Snowboard / Freestyle / Freeski.” If those rules change or no longer exist, the same scale is used to compare across disciplines in an equal and fair way.
- All events below a World Cup level use the FIS Points assigned to them by FIS (including Rev Tour and Air Nation events).
- If required, athletes with only results on the Freeride Challenger tour, or at WSPL events that do not reach 800+ WSPL points, are calculated manually using the FIS Points scale for events worth 260 FIS Points.
- Slopestyle and Big Air count as one discipline, and only Slopestyle results are used. The other five disciplines are Alpine (Parallel Slalom (PSL) and Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS)), Snowboardcross, Halfpipe, Freeride and Para-Snowboard (Para-Snowboardcross and Banked Slalom).
The order cards are awarded in
- Development cards, up to 2 per discipline
Up to 2 Development cards go to the highest-ranked D card-eligible athletes in each of: Slopestyle, Halfpipe, Alpine, Snowboardcross.
- Development cards, up to 1 per discipline
Up to 1 Development card goes to the highest-ranked D card-eligible athlete in each of: Para, Freeride.
- All remaining cards
Distributed by Carding Level (SR1, SR2, SR, D), then Priority # within each level, then Athlete Points Ranking within each priority. Each group is filled completely before moving to the next, until there are no cards or no eligible athletes left.
Additional considerations
Extra rules that shape who is eligible for which card over time.
After that, the Selection Committee, in consultation with Sport Canada, conducts a comprehensive review of the athlete’s performances over the past five years to assess whether they have shown progress toward the International Senior (SR1) criteria, to justify one more year at SR. The committee analyzes a variety of elements, including but not limited to: the athlete’s results and skill progression relative to Top 8 performers in the discipline internationally; the athlete’s trajectory compared with historical performance trends (Podium Results Track), based on the average progression of athletes who previously achieved Top 8 finishes at marquee international competitions (Paralympics, Olympics, World Championships); and data available to Canada Snowboard, at its sole discretion.
The Selection Committee may also set specific performance benchmarks for an athlete’s 5th year of Senior Carding (SR) status. Any such benchmarks will be communicated to the athlete in writing, and the athlete will be required to meet them, in addition to demonstrating continued progress toward the SR1 carding criteria, to be considered for any further nomination.
- All disciplines (Para, Alpine, Snowboardcross, Slopestyle/Big Air, Halfpipe and Freeride): athletes previously carded at a Senior level (SR1, SR2, SR, C1) for two (2) or more carding cycles are not eligible for Development (D) nominations, unless they were at the FIS Junior age category, or in another discipline/sport, when they achieved those levels.
- PSL, PGS and SBX: athletes must be under 25 as of December 31, 2027 (five years past the FIS Junior age category for these disciplines in 2027/28).
- HP, SBS / BA and Freeride: athletes must be under 23 as of December 31, 2027 (five years past the FIS Junior age category for these disciplines in 2027/28).
- a health-related reason (pregnancy/illness/injury) clearly documented by a Canada Snowboard approved physician (or Physio Lead), or
- multiple event cancellations due to a major unforeseen circumstance, such as a global pandemic,
- the athlete has not started in eight (8) or more events during the 2026/27 carding cycle (DNF and DSQ count as a start; DNS does not), and
- the athlete has fulfilled all communicated Canada Snowboard supervised training and rehabilitation requirements.
Full policy documents
Approved by Tyler Ashbee (High Performance Director, Style Disciplines) and Kim Krahulec (High Performance Director, Speed Disciplines). Effective October 29, 2026. This page is a plain-language summary of the “2027-2028 Sport Canada Athlete Assistance Program (AAP) Carding Nomination Eligibility and Criteria Sheet” for informational purposes; the official document and the General Selection Policy (GSP) govern in any case of discrepancy.
