Hockey Canada touted the recent "Rise as One" blueprint for women's hockey in Canada, but it wasn't received equally, particularly in Ontario where the document could be setting up a fight against the most powerful women's hockey organization in the world, the OWHA.
At the 1987 World Women's Hockey Tournament, Team Canada faced Team Ontario in the final for gold. It was a precursor event to the 1990 World Championships and 1998 Olympics, planned and executed by the Ontario Women's Hockey Association. The OWHA were also the backbone to a successful inaugural 1990 World Championship tournament hosted in Ottawa.
Fast forward to 2025 following the release of a Hockey Canada published document title "Rise as One" and Hockey Canada and the OWHA appear to be on a collision course that could see them as rivals, not on the ice as it was in 1987, but off the ice in an existential clash to decide the future pathway for women's hockey in Canada.
When Hockey Canada released the blueprint for women's and girls' hockey in Canada, while it touted the historic work the OWHA has done, the document pointed at Canada's only governing body designed specifically for women's and girls' hockey
In all other provinces and territories in Canada, women's hockey falls under the umbrella of the same body as men's hockey. Only in Ontario is there separation. In the eyes of the Hockey Canada published document, Ontario's governance has caused additional challenges to the sport.
"While there are difficulties in the delivery of women’s and girls’ hockey across the country, the unique governance model in Ontario has caused additional challenges as the sport continues to evolve, including inconsistencies with league and association structures, registration reporting, insurance, policies, scheduling, coaching and training processes overseen by the OWHA," the Rise as One report states.
Under Hockey Canada's 14 recommendations for women's and girls' hockey, multiple recommendations directly targeted Ontario as an area of need. In fact, Ontario was the only province explicitly mentioned in the blueprint.
In recommendation #4, a call to 'Standardize Regional Delivery Of Hockey Hockey', the Hockey Canada published blueprint stated they "will work with its three Ontario Members and the OWHA on how to strengthen and modernize the existing governance model in Ontario."
The report repeatedly criticized only Ontario's model, including stating there was "Criticism of the overall governance structure of women’s and girls’ hockey as being outdated or ineffective, particularly in Ontario."
Recommendation #10, looking to 'Build Data Foundations To Enable Key Priorities' also took a shot at Ontario claiming that "there remain gaps in how data is tracked, uploaded and reported on throughout the country, especially with the Ontario Women’s Hockey Association."
While Hockey Canada's blueprint points at the OWHA, Ontario remains the primary producer of women's hockey talent in Canada, and the driver of national team success.
The assertions made in Hockey Canada's blueprint however, did not match Hockey Canada's own "research reveal" to members. This research reveal was presented to members in May of 2025, but was not publicly released alongside the "Rise as One" blueprint.
Sentiment Not Echoed By Research
Hockey Canada, via marketing agency IMI International, conducted surveys with 6,495 Canadians looking at areas of need, barriers, and priorities for girls and women's hockey in Canada. This surveyed group included players, coaches/admin, parents, and volunteers. They also surveyed 1,136 Canadians outside Hockey Canada's community, and a separate hand picked group of "sport influencers."
While Hockey Canada's final public report often pointed at Ontario as a specific area of need for reform, their own research as displayed in IMI International's research reveal presentation, which was obtained by The Hockey News, did not.
Ontario did not lead any of Hockey Canada's negative markers. When looking at net results, comparing those who labelled something as better or worse than expected following their involvement in women's and girls' hockey, Ontario wasn't at the bottom of any individual category. Ontario finished atop positive scales for "level of competitiveness" and "training/support," and was one of only four provincial bodies with an overall net positive score alongside New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Manitoba, while Quebec, British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan had net negative totals.
For all of Hockey Canada's identified national net negative categories, Ontario was not the worst in any. The "leaders" in net negative categories were Quebec for structure/pathway (-21), and the overall lowest scoring province in net negative, Saskatchewan, for equity (-21), opportunity to be heard (-28), costs (-36), level of bureaucracy/red tape (-42), and scheduling (-25).
One of Hockey Canada's reported challenges for Ontario, scheduling, saw Ontario rank higher than every province aside from Manitoba. Similarly Hockey Canada reported additional challenges with Ontario's coaching and training processes despite the province leading Canada in net "training/support" scores.
When looking at provincial rankings for the respondent's experiences in girls' and women's hockey, Ontario also did not rank at the bottom, or second from bottom, of any category when it came to perceptions toward their youth hockey associations, players, coaches, officials, leagues, or players. Similarly, Ontario did not finish in the bottom two of any topic related to safety, belonging, feeling that participant's voices were heard, or the feeling that an individual can enact change.
Is There Really A Problem In Ontario?
According to the more than 7,500 Canadians who took Hockey Canada's survey, Ontario did not fall at the bottom of any metric shown in IMI International's presentation to stakeholders in May of 2025.
Currently Ontario is the only province in Canada with a multi-tier competitive structure, that allows players to move from 'A' and 'AA' hockey to the U-18 level, followed by Canada's only true Junior league for women, the OWHL U-22 Elite. This league is the primary producer of NCAA and PWHL talent from Canada, as well as members of Canada's U-18 and senior national teams.
From Canada's 2025 national team, 14 members came from Ontario and the OWHA. Even one member of USA's senior national team, Hayley Scamurra, played in the OWHA. An additional five non-Ontario members of Canada's national team spent the bulk of their minor hockey careers playing boys' hockey in their provinces, with one other playing their developmental hockey at Shattuck St. Mary's in the United States. Looking at Canada's U-18 national team that will play at the 2026 World Championships, 14 members are currently playing in the OWHL U-22 Elite. More than 50% of Canada's national team rosters are OWHA products.
Recently, the OWHA has become a landing spot for more of Canada's top players from other provinces as well. That list includes players such as Sara Manness and Kate Manness who spent their final seasons in the OWHA before joining the NCAA after coming from Manitoba. Quinnipiac defender Aynsley D'Ottavio came from British Columbia to play in the league for a season prior to the NCAA. The list goes on with Quebec's Emma Beauchamp who now plays at Colgate, and former U-18 national team member and current Colgate forward Ava Wood, who hails from New Brunswick. The trend continues this season with PEI's Megan Mossey and Nova Scotia's Jaylee MacKinnon who are currently in the OWHA and members of Canada's U-18 national team. They represent a growing number of out of province players moving to Ontario for better development opportunities and exposure.
The main critiques in Ontario stem from a few items. First, there are no enforced borders for what team a player can compete with. It's why many of the top players in Canada flock to a small handful of teams like the powerhouse Etobicoke Dolphins, who earlier this year announced that all 18 members of their roster had made NCAA D1 commitments. In other locations, like Ottawa, the majority of the top players in the region migrated this season to play for the Nepean Wildcats, over the other three OWHL junior teams in the city. A better structure for player movement is a potential area for improvement.
The second point of critique that many claim against Ontario is their continued push to have girls playing girls hockey, instead of boys' hockey. While there's no way to enforce this mandate, which was decided in a human rights case in the 1980s featuring a young hockey player named Justine Blainey, it does come into play when athletes enter the U-15 and U-18 levels. At that point, any player not registered for a girls hockey program in Ontario is not eligible for Ontario's provincial team program. It's a requirement that forces girls to make the switch if they want to be considered for Canada's U-18 national program or to represent Ontario at the U-18 national championships.
To this point, there are some isolated areas of Ontario where there are no girls teams of a calibre fitting to elite players without driving hours to find a team. Geographic isolation, lack of quality coaching, and the opportunity to train with more skilled players are all factors that cause some girls to choose alternative options, and Hockey Canada wants to keep all options open for these players. Those issues however, are not unique to Ontario, and in many provinces, are far more magnified than Ontario, which has the largest girls hockey association in the world.
Hockey Canada itself however, has been a historic adversary of women's and girls' hockey. Women fought for inclusion under Canada's national governing body for decades only to be turned away. Out of that exclusion, refusal for funding, and lack of support to launch international competitions with Hockey Canada and the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association's backing, organizations like the former LOHA, and current OWHA were born.
Many Were Caught Off Guard
The report's placement of a clear target on the OWHA was a surprise to many, including those within the OWHA and other provincial bodies. The repeated mention of Ontario and the OWHA in the blueprint has some preparing for a fight.
Hockey Canada's attempts to control all hockey in Canada has led to similar fights in recent seasons, including in men's hockey with the departure of the BCHL from under Hockey Canada control, and recent developments seeing more men's hockey players jettison for the NCAA to train under the American development model.
As of Monday, leaders for women's and girls' hockey from at least five provincial bodies were in communication to discuss the blueprint, and potential pathways for the future beyond the scope of Hockey Canada's plan.
According to the OWHA, they'll be examining the document more thoroughly, and preparing a response to better understand Hockey Canada's intentions.
Continue to follow The Hockey News' Women's site for future developments on this story.