City of Edmonton sues Canadian snowboarding body over debts owed from 2023 event

A high-flying snowboard rivalry that took localise in Edmonton deuce years agone has been sued by the urban center for not paying its bill.  

The federation says it's working on a payment plan to settle the debt.

Big air snowboarding scores competitors who perform complex tricks. The 2023 competition saw snowboarders taking flight from what was called the largest scaffold big air jump in the world at the time. 

Edmonton had hosted the event in 2022 with mixed success, as competitors found the ramp too slow. The following year it was built two stories taller, above the top deck of Commonwealth. 

According to the statement of claim, the federation was charged almost $139,000 for use of the stadium in 2023, including a rental fee, electrical and IT support, locker room cleaning and security. 

The amount was due by the end of January 2024.

After the federation missed the payment deadline, the city made multiple requests for payment in February and March of that year.

A full year after the deadline, the federation made payments of $10,000 in each of January and February 2025, according to the statement of claim. 

The city lawsuit said the amount had accrued about $1,300 in interest as of February 2024. The contract signed between the two parties states that late payments would be subject to the prime interest rate plus six percentage points. The city is asking for $119,637 plus ongoing interest and legal costs. 

The court documents included a letter from the city’s lawyer Patrick Hopf to the federation. It said while the lawsuit was filed, the city was open to discussing a repayment plan to resolve the debt. 

No statement of defence has been filed but an email from Rich Hegarty, spokesperson for the snowboard federation, said it has written a draft settlement agreement, which he said has been accepted by the City of Edmonton.

“Our legal team at McMillan LLP is currently managing the payment plan and awaiting details from Edmonton to finalize the settlement process,” Hegarty’s email said.

A city spokesperson confirmed the settlement plan but declined to comment while the matter is before the courts.

The not-for-profit Canadian Snowboard Federation is the governing body for snowboarding in Canada, hosting events, co-ordinating national teams and overseeing training and competitions. 

Dan Mason, a professor of sport management at the University of Alberta, said it is unusual for an organization to leave a bill unpaid for so long. 

Noting that he doesn’t know details of the organization’s financial health, Mason called the unpaid bill "a substantial red flag for the organization as a whole.”

Audited financial statements posted on the federation’s website show it has posted multiple years of deficits, ballooning debts and outstanding bills.

Its 2025 audit, for example, shows the federation has $515,000 in bank debt plus more than $207,000 in credit card debt. Its unpaid bills and accrued liabilities total over $3 million. 

The federation has not responded to a request for comment on its financial health.

Most of the federation’s revenue comes from government sources like Sport Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee.

Mason said that increases the need for the organization to be transparent.

“I think that this is something that should be a big deal to people because if they're not being organized or operated in the appropriate ways, then certainly this is going to hurt taxpayers and the residents of Canada overall.”

The cost of organizing large events has grown more expensive and until recently, government funding had largely remained stagnant. A federal commission raised the alarm this spring about underfunding and governance problems in many national sports organizations. 

Mason said the unpaid bill doesn't tarnish the legacy of the event itself as Edmonton tries to market itself as a place to host big events.

“Overall, I think [the city] probably still achieved what they wanted to do with the hosting of the event, which was to get some more interest in the city and get people thinking about the city and coming to visit.”

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