Papanui Ward city councillor Victoria Henstock said the revelation during a briefing to councillors from Canterbury A&P Association board members on Tuesday morning took her by surprise.
The news came after the council reached a $5 million deal with the association in April, which would see the association surrender its lease on council land on Wigram Road and receive $4m in a protected investment fund.
"Was it anticipated at that time there would be additional funding going to the show?" Henstock asked after the board members told councillors - apparently for the first time - it had provided funding for this year's show.
The money had come from the council's city identity fund, a staff member told Henstock.
It had been a tumultuous year for the Canterbury A&P Association.
The board announced in April that this year's New Zealand Agricultural Show was cancelled.
The show was then resurrected - though in a downscaled and different format - by an events management company and most of the board retired.
Yesterday morning's briefing to councillors marked the first time the new board had fronted councillors since their appointment.
Board member Peter Engel said the $125,000 funding for this year and the underwriting for next year would support the show's viability until returns started coming in from the protected investment fund.
Christchurch City Council citizens and community general manager Andrew Rutledge would be an observer and adviser to the association's board.
The board's chair Sir David Carter said he was certain this year's show - branded the Christchurch Show - was going ahead and that was the board's focus.
"What we're keen to do as a board is put the past behind us. There's no point in post-mortems - the past is the past. What we want to focus on is Show 24 and Show 25," he said.
RNZ had asked the council for further clarity around the funding to the Canterbury A&P Association.
