After a life-altering injury at 19, the Innisfree native found his way back to sport through wheelchair basketball

While wheelchair basketball games are often loud and full of energy, Dylan Cannan prefers the quiet calm of the open fields.

Born and raised in Innisfree, Alta., Cannan grew up in a busy household as the youngest of six siblings. Between helping on the family’s grain-and-cattle farm and keeping up with his siblings, there was always something going on.

“It gave me space from people. I’m not a city person,” Cannan said of the farm life. “Being in the country is my life.”

Sports were a natural part of that lifestyle.

Like many small-town athletes, Cannan played a little bit of everything growing up: soccer, badminton and curling among them.

His long-term plans had little to do with elite sport; however.

The farm was always at the centre of his future.

“I was planning on taking something in agriculture,” Cannan said of his postsecondary goals. “My lifelong goal is always to come back and work on the farm.”

But at 19, everything changed.

Cannan was involved in a car accident that resulted in a T10 complete spinal cord injury. Suddenly, his plans changed.

Rehabilitation took him to Edmonton’s Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, where a visit from Wheelchair Sports Alberta opened the door to something new.

“After my injury, I was at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton, and Wheelchair Sports Alberta would come out once a week, and they’d bring some chairs, and patients there could try it out,” Cannan explained. “So I got involved with the sport right after my injury.”

It didn’t take long for Cannan to fall in love with wheelchair basketball.

“The people made it great. The basketball community is awesome. Everybody’s welcoming,” he said.

But beyond the community, there was something else that drew him in: the intensity.

“The aggression, too. Any sport I’ve played, I’ve loved being aggressive in the sport, and wheelchair basketball allowed me to do so.”

Still relatively new to the sport, Cannan earned a spot on Canada’s Under-23 men’s National Team in 2025.

The jump to international competition was eye-opening.

“It was definitely a big jump from playing club-level basketball. It’s an eye-opener, that’s for sure,” he said.

But the experience also showed him what might be possible.

“Being in the sport for only two years, I’m still very fresh to it, where a lot of these guys at that level have been playing for quite some time,” Cannan said. “I think it showed me that if I put the effort in over time, I could potentially become a decent player.”

The 22-year-old made his international debut at the 2025 IWBF Men’s U23 Americas Championship in Bogotá, Colombia and helped Canada earn qualification for the IWBF Men’s Under-23 World Championship in São Paulo, Brazil.

Cannan suited up for Canada a third time at the Youth Parapan American Games in Santiago, Chile, capturing gold — a moment that stood out as a career highlight.

“Definitely a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend a multisport event like that,” Cannan said. “To be able to bring a gold medal home — it’s not something you can accomplish on a regular basis.”

Back home, Cannan continues to develop his game with the Alberta Northern Lights in preparation for the 2026 CWBL Finals,which the Northern Lights are hosting as part of the club’s 50th anniversary celebrations.

“It’s going to be an awesome experience,” he said. “I think they’ve got a pretty good event planned with it being our 50th anniversary. I think it should be a pretty fun tournament all around, and hopefully we have a little bit of home court advantage.

“I’ll have lots of family out there and some friends out there watching, cheering me on.”

In June, Cannan will suit up with Team Alberta at the Junior National Championship – a seeding event for the 2027 Canada Games.

“We’re looking okay,” Cannan said of his provincial squad. “We had a good tournament in Calgary in February. We’re progressing. It’s, it’s going to take some time, but I think come Canada Games, we’ll be ready.”

For now, Cannan’s goals are straightforward: keep improving and keep competing.

“My short-term goal would be medalling at the Canada Games,” Cannan said.

But like many athletes who have worn the Maple Leaf, he’s thinking bigger too.

“Long-term, I would probably say to hopefully someday partake in the Paralympics.”