Hockey Canada's Penalty Rate For Discrimination Has More Than Doubled Since 2021-22

Since Hockey Canada faced a reckoning with maltreatment in the sport, the governing body has attempted to better identify, track, report and address issues in the game. While those efforts are underway, a recent report released by Hockey Canada shows more incidents are occurring based on discriminatory grounds.

Tracking penalties that breach Hockey Canada's Rule 11.4, which protects players against actions that relate “to any player or team official who engages in verbal taunts, insults or intimidation based on discriminatory grounds,” the organization has seen those calls more than double since 2021-22.

Last year, a spike was reported seeing numbers jump from 512 penalties called by officials on discriminatory grounds, up to 913. This year, that number climbed yet again to 1,291. It represents 2.57 incidents of discrimination, based on protected grounds such as race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability, per 1,000 players.

“This year’s report is extremely important to better understand the behavior that is occurring in our communities, as it now includes all tracked penalties and allegations of incidents related to Section 11 – Maltreatment, in addition to the statistics from  (the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner) and referenced data from the (Independent Third Party),” said Natasha Johnston, vice-president of sport integrity for Hockey Canada in a press release. “Across the country, we are seeing much greater awareness of what constitutes maltreatment on and off the ice, which is encouraging as we seek to remove all forms of it from hockey.”

While Hockey Canada attributes the rise in part to “much greater awareness of what constitutes maltreatment,” the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Canadian Human Rights Act, which protect all citizens from discrimination, have been in force since 1982 and 1977, respectively.

The 2023-24 report shows significant jumps in the incidence rate in Saskatchewan and Manitoba from 2022-23. Manitoba more than doubled its rate from 1.68 to 3.47 per 1,000 players, and Saskatchewan nearly tripled its numbers from 1.04 to 3.11 penalties per 1,000 players.

The highest rate in Canada was seen for the third straight year in Hockey Eastern Ontario. The rate there continues to rise as well – it's now experiencing issues of discrimination at a rate of 6.11 per 1,000 players.

As the report relates to “reported unwitnessed allegations,” there was a slight reduction in reports from 711 in 2022-23 to 636 in 2023-24, although the number remains well above the 415 reported in 2021-22.

By division, the highest rates of reporting occured at the U-18 level, followed by Junior, U-15 and U-21 age groups. The highest rates of penalized and alleged discrimination in 2023-24 were based on sex and gender, followed by race and disability.

Related: Hockey Canada Sees Spike In Maltreatment Reports From 2021-22 To 2022-23

The ongoing reports are part of Hockey Canada’s new commitment to making national reports on maltreatment public following the organization's reckoning with abuse, harassment and discrimination following the inquiry into the alleged 2018 gang sexual assault involving members of Canada's world junior team. That investigation also uncovered discoveries of slush funds used to pay settlements related to allegations of violence and abuse.

The case of the alleged 2018 sexual assault is expected to head to trial in April with five former NHL players – Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Michael McLeod, Carter Hart and Alex Formenton – all facing one count of sexual assault, and McLeod also facing one count of being party to the offense. Through their lawyers, the men indicated they will not plead guilty to the charges once the trial begins.

As Hockey Canada wrote in the conclusion of its report, the governing body remains “steadfast in our commitment to creating safer and more inclusive spaces for all participants in sanctioned hockey,” despite another year of increases in incidents of discrimination.

Related: London Police Confirm Sexual Assault Charges Against Five 2018 Canadian WJC Players