Hockey Canada said its two new independent complaint management mechanisms received nearly 1,900 potential incidents in its first year of existence, in 2022-23.
This data is included in the most recent hockey mistreatment monitoring report sanctioned by the organization that oversees the sport in the country, and which includes cases of mistreatment, discrimination and harassment.
This document was released on Thursday, and the information contained in it represents an important step and is part of Hockey Canada’s ongoing efforts to improve the detection, treatment and follow-up of cases of abuse.
“The independent third party received a total of 1,872 complaints during the first year (July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023), which includes files submitted by the 13 members of Hockey Canada. Of these, 187 were accepted and processed in full,” the report read.
This therefore means that more than 1,400 complaints did not meet the necessary severity threshold, and as a result they were redirected to provincial or territorial organizations for evaluation.
Additionally, of the 187 complaints that were upheld, more than half were related to bullying and harassment, while complaints of sexual abuse were the second most commonly upheld complaints, at 19.8%. Complaints of other types were also accepted by the independent third party, notably for physical assault (11.2%), discrimination (7.5%) and abuse of authority (7%).
The report also states that 1,624 documented or alleged incidents of on-ice discrimination were reported last season – up from 927 contained in Hockey Canada’s first report on mistreatment in 2021-22. The sports organization claims that improved awareness, education and denunciation processes could explain this increase.
The 18-page document also mentioned that the Office of the Sports Integrity Commissioner (BCIS) received 25 complaints relating to ice hockey during the first year (i.e. from June 20, 2022 to June 30, 2023), including 24 were deemed inadmissible and one for which the competent organization had not yet been determined.
Hockey Canada became a signatory to the government-supported “Sport Without Abuse” program in October 2022.