Jobs: The CSA board is made up of Provincial reps, elected by District reps, who are elected by the clubs. The clubs call the shots from the bottom up because everyone is too afraid to lose their power. Funding: They get some funds from the Feds, and a small amount from sponsors, with the bulk being made from registration fees.
I've heard that about the CSA, that it's more of a federation than a centrally controlled entity and that competing interests are the major source of its dysfunction. That would suggest that the only way to improve the situation is to create an authorative central control, but of course those who have the power to make that decision would be the ones losing their power by such a decision, so doubtful that it will happen. There have many attempts at the formation of an alternate association, but so far no luck.
and youth clubs make up about half of the voting entities and who does the voting and hiring of TD's at youth club level? volunteer moms and dads... I've been involved in a couple of clubs where a club board member(soccer mom) in one case was telling the club technical director what team and division to place players and in another where a the club secretary(another mom) overruled a the TD on technical development plans...and what did the TD's do? nothing, they had paid positions that could be terminated so they kept quiet...I've seen the same at Provicial level, a TD hampered in doing his job for fear of losing it should he annoy some parent reps...so in the end very little gets done... I recall from my days with senior clubs there was always problems with raising registration fees, clubs would fight against any increase but the reality is the CSA needs the money...if we want the people who can can make us better we need to be prepared to pay for them, some like Hiddink cost millions, the Australians paid up, the Koreans paid the price...so not only do we have to find the money to pay what it costs we have to let those we hire do their jobs and everyone else listen and learn... I've been out of soccer completely for awhile now so I don't know what the current fee structure is but with nearly a million registered players an increase in CSA registration fees of $50-100 per player would do a lot of good...
the problem with an alternate association is sanctioning without it no refferee will ref and and any player that wants to play at a provincial or national level will not join, without sanctioning you can't even leave the country to play elsewhere as no other team can play your team...the only organization that can sanction a national organization is FIFA and FIFA won't give up on the CSA...what you need is a national mutiny that creates an alternate association so large that it threathens the CSA's financial vialbility and then maybe FIFA will step in...there are leagues in Canada that operate in the unsanctioned underworld...
Given the unlikelihood of the clubs rising up in a coherent fashion to change things in such a way that it favours the national team over themselves, the following would seem to be the best way to go: Have the Feds offer some significant (in CSA terms) funding with the caveat that they (ostensibly the Minister of Sports and Rec but in practice a person appointed to the soccer job) will now be rearranging priorities to focus on the upper levels. Not ignoring grass roots soccer - because without it you don't have upper levels - but shifting the focus. Google tells me the CSA's budget is about $12 million per year. I don't think having the Feds invest $5 million or so will break the bank.