By Canadian Press

Hockey Canada says almost 1,900 maltreatment complaints received in 2022-23

Nov 30, 2023 | 12:02 PM

TORONTO — Hockey Canada says a new independent third-party complaint mechanism received information on almost 1,900 potential cases of maltreatment during its first season. 

The data is contained in the national sport organization’s latest report on the issue — which covers abuse, discrimination and harassment — released today as part of its numbers-based push to address the problem across the game. 

Hockey Canada says of the 1,872 complaints made during the 2022-23 season, 187 were accepted and fully processed, while more than 1,400 didn’t meet the threshold of severity and were redirected to provincial or territorial members for assessment. 

Of the accepted complaints, the report entitled “Tracking Maltreatment in Sanctioned Hockey” showed just over 50 per cent involved bullying and harassment, followed by sexual maltreatment (19.8 per cent), physical abuse (11.2 per cent), discrimination (7.5 per cent) and abuse of power (seven per cent). Put differently, that’s an average of nearly one complaint per 200 players across the country.

The report also stated there were 1,624 documented or alleged incidents of on-ice discrimination last season — up from the 927 contained in Hockey Canada’s first report on maltreatment related to 2021-22. The sport body pointed to improved awareness, education and reporting processes as potential reasons for the overall increases. 

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The 18-page document also showed that the Office of the Sport Integrity Commissioner received 25 complaints or reports related to hockey, although 24 of those were deemed inadmissible and one was pending as of June 30, 2023. Hockey Canada, which is still recovering from a string of scandals related to alleged sexual abuse, became a full signatory of the government-backed Abuse-Free Sport program in October 2022. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 30, 2023.

Joshua Clipperton, The Canadian Press