The program
The Athlete Excellence Program is intended for student-athletes identified as Espoir, Development, Elite, and Excellence by their sports federation who are studying at a Quebec educational institution recognized by the Ministry of Education.
The federations send their student-athletes the Sports Quebec form, which must be completed before the deadline. This deadline is around mid-September.
Sports federations then prioritize their student-athletes and submit these prioritizations to the Aléo Foundation.
Eligibility Criteria
- Being a full-time or part-time student at an educational institution recognized by the Ministry of Education, starting from high school;
- To be identified and prioritized by their sports federation as a Hope, Next-Gen, Elite, or Excellence athlete in a sport supported by the Ministry of Education. The federations base their prioritizations on the sports and academic results of the last 24 months.
- To be engaged in a high-level training and competition program;
- Be from Quebec or a resident of Quebec for at least 2 years, or train in Quebec in a high-level sports host structure.
Scholars and fellows
Distributed annually
How to apply?
For this program, all requests submitted to the Foundation come from provincial sports federations. The foundation does not accept applications directly.
- Based on the Sports Québec forms completed by their identified athletes, sports federations meet with the Aléo Foundation and present the files of the student-athletes they are prioritizing for this year.
- Subsequently, the Aléo Foundation selects its bursary recipients throughout the year, according to the schedule of its various bursary presentations.
- Some scholarship holders receive multiple grants year after year and evolve within this program. That being said, the Sports Québec form must be filled out annually.
Aléo Succession Team
A pivotal moment in the rise of an athletic career, student-athletes identified as «Relève» are at a turning point where expenses skyrocket. They are also the least funded. That is why the Foundation launched its Équipe Relève Aléo!
The first version of the Aléo Rising Stars Team was unveiled on February 13, 2026. The top student-athletes in each sport were prioritized by their sports federation to make up this select team.
In this first year, 50 scholarships of 3,000 $ were awarded to each recipient, for a total of 150,000 $. In addition to this amount, recipients received professional services in career guidance, academic support, networking, and communications.
Équipe Relève Aléo is back in 2027 with even more impact, as the number of scholarship recipients will be increased. Even more scholarships and more «of uniforms» in the program's colors.
How to apply?
- Aléo Rising Star Team is part of the Excellence Athlete Program. Student-athletes identified as «Rising Star» must therefore complete the Sports Québec form.
- Each sports federation will then have the difficult task of prioritizing its athletes according to their athletic and academic results over the last 24 months.
- The Foundation will then unveil its Aléo Next-Generation Team based on these prioritizations.
Good luck to everyone!