Baseball's most prestigious youth international event is due to be staged across two venues, the Port Arthur Stadium and Baseball Central, from September 1 to 10.  

Air Canada joins top-tier regional partners Tbaytel, Goldcorp and CN Rail, and 30 other regional partners in sponsoring the event.

"Air Canada is proud to be a sponsor of the 2017 WBSC U-18 Baseball World Cup," said Kevin Howlett, Air Canada senior vice-president of regional markets and government relations.

"For a global carrier, an international tournament such as this is an opportunity to do what we do best, connect people from around the world, including bringing them to local communities."

The 12 qualified countries have been drawn into two groups of six and will begin the tournament with a round-robin, which will include a match between defending champions the United States and world number one Japan.

The Under-18 Baseball World Cup has featured players who have gone on to become some of the biggest names in the sport.

Mickey Moniak of the US was the first player selected in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft while other stars have been drafted in the first round of Nippon Professional Baseball, Chinese Professional Baseball League and Korea Baseball Organisation League.

Florida Marlins' 2015 first-round pick, Josh Naylor, helped lead the Canadian team at the 2015 edition and was named in the WBSC All-World Team.

Some of the players may also feature at Tokyo 2020 when baseball makes its return to the Olympic programme after a 12-year absence.