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Why Canada Is Becoming a Cheerleading Powerhouse

danielluna05
Sep 17
3 min read

Thirty years ago, most Canadians had never heard of All Star cheerleading. There were no national championships worth speaking of, no Team Canada competing on an international stage, no industry built around the sport.


Today, Canada has over 30,000 registered athletes, its best-ever international podium results and a growing presence at competitions across North America, Latin America, Europe, and beyond. Something significant has happened here, and it's worth understanding.


TL;DR — Canadian cheerleading has grown from a handful of school-based programs in the early 2000s into a nationally organized, internationally competitive sport with over 30,000 registered athletes. Canadian teams now compete in Mexico and on the AIA Global stage. The sport is growing fast. And Canada is helping lead it.

Where It Started


Cheerleading arrived in Canada through U.S. cultural influence in the early 2000s, initially school-based and tied to American football sidelines. It looked nothing like the sport it would become.


As All Star gyms began opening across the country, the model shifted. Club-based cheerleading, focused entirely on competition, started taking root.


The 2000 film Bring It On and ESPN's international broadcasts brought wider cultural awareness and helped normalize cheer as a serious athletic discipline in the public eye. A generation of athletes who grew up watching that era of cheerleading became the coaches and gym owners who built the Canadian sport into what it is today.


The numbers today


Over 30,000 registered athletes now compete under Cheer Canada from coast to coast, across youth, scholastic, collegiate, and All Star programs.


At the 2025 ICU World Championships, Canada sent 335 individuals across 12 national teams and brought home 8 medals. Cheer Canada described it as the nation's best podium results ever.


Since 2025, thousands of cheerleaders from various programs in Canada and the USA have stepped on the impressive stage of COP Brands in Mexico. Naming:


The IOC recognized cheerleading in 2016, opening the door to potential Olympic inclusion and accelerating investment in national programs worldwide.


The World Games 2029 in Germany will feature cheerleading as an artistic sport, specifically the Premier division under International Cheer Union (ICU) rules.


Canadian Teams on the World Stage


The Florida championships have long been the default destination for international All Star competition. That picture is changing, and Canadian teams are showing up everywhere.


At COP Brands events in Mexico, the Magical Championship of the World in Puerto Vallarta and the Xpirit World Cup in Cancun have become meaningful stops on the international circuit. Canadian teams competing in Latin America are part of a broader shift away from the traditional U.S.-dominated competitive model, and they're performing well doing it.


At the AIA Global Tournament in Montreal, Canada didn't just participate in the inaugural edition. It hosted it. Teams from various countries with an All Star cheer community, competing on Canadian soil for the first time at this scale. Hosting the first edition of something historic is not a small thing. It reflects the credibility Canada has built in the eyes of the international cheer community over three decades.



Wherever you're representing Canada on the global stage, do so with pride and showcase your colours. At Cheer Action we do everything from jerseys, jackets, hoodies and sweatpants, bags and training sets. Travel with style. Browse our catalog here and book a design session with one of our reps.

 
 
 

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