The number of penalties called in Hockey Canada-sanctioned games for discrimination-related offences, including slurs related to race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity, disabilities, and marital or family status, rose 16 per cent during the 2024-25 season, the federation wrote in its annual report on maltreatment.
Referees called 1,494 penalties during the 2024-25 season for verbal discrimination that contravened Hockey Canada’s Rule 11.4, according to Hockey Canada’s Maltreatment in Sanctioned Hockey Report, which was released Wednesday. The number of penalties rose from 1,291 in 2023-24, 913 in 2022-23, and 512 in 2021-22.
“Hockey Canada recognizes that despite the positive outcomes that can be achieved through participating in the sport, maltreatment does occur in hockey,” the report said. “It is critical to continue collecting, monitoring and publishing national data from sanctioned hockey programming, which will help build awareness and support various initiatives that facilitate safeguarding and culture change. Maltreatment is unacceptable and fundamentally incompatible with the core values that lie at the heart of hockey.”
Of the 1,494 penalties for verbal discrimination documented in Wednesday’s report, 558 were called by referees in the Ontario Hockey Federation (OHF), most among provincial and territorial federations (PTSOs), followed by 230 in Hockey Quebec, and 146 in Hockey Alberta.
Hockey Canada said it had 516,147 registered players in 2024-25. The OHF accounted for 179,132, or 34 per cent, of all registered players.
When the number of registered players within a PTSO was factored into consideration, Hockey Eastern Ontario had 5.28 verbal discrimination penalties per 1,000 players, most among PTSOs. Hockey PEI had 4.01, and Hockey Manitoba had 3.82.
Players at the U18 level accounted for 815 of the 1,494 Rule 11.4 penalties in 2023-24, the most among the age groups, followed by U15 (391) and Junior (118).
The report did not include statistics from Canadian Hockey League games.
Hockey Canada’s independent third party (ITP), an arms-length agency run by Ottawa-area lawyer Jahmiah Ferdinand-Hodkin that receives and investigates complaints of abuse, published its own annual report on Wednesday that detailed the number of complaints it received and investigated during its third year of operation.
During its third year, the ITP received 1,464 complaints, and accepted and investigated 214. (1,031 complaints were redirected to other hockey organizations.)
The ITP, which said one-third of complainants asked to remain anonymous after filing a complaint, reported that in 2024-25, it received 711 complaints alleging bullying/harassment, 216 alleging discrimination, 119 alleging physical abuse, and 96 alleging sexual maltreatment. There were also 78 complaints alleging social-media harassment and 17 complaints alleging that hazing took place.
The ITP said that 13 complaints represented false allegations and five complaints were made because of retaliation. Four complaints led to criminal charges, the ITP said.
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