Ottawa considers restoring Hockey Canada's funding after 9-month freeze

The federal government is assessing whether to restore millions of dollars in taxpayer funding to Hockey Canada after a nine-month freeze linked to its handling of a high-profile alleged group sexual assault in 2018, CBC News has learned. 

Minister of Sport Pascale St-Onge's office confirms Hockey Canada has now met all three of her requirements to restore its federal funding. Her office is deciding if and when that could happen.

"We want to make sure that the new board of directors remains committed to [bringing] the expected profound cultural change within the organization," said Ariane Joazard-Belizaire, a spokesperson for the minister's office. 

St-Onge publicly suspended the organization's funding in June after Hockey Canada's executives testified at a parliamentary committee and didn't answer all of MPs questions, she said.

A financial statement shows Hockey Canada, the country's richest sports organization, received $7.7 million from Sport Canada in the 2022 fiscal year. The statement says the organization ended the fiscal year in June with $98 million.

"Hockey Canada does not need money," said Kate Bahen, the managing director of Charity Intelligence Canada. "It has $98 million, there are many other sport organizations that actually need dollars to keep the lights on and Canadians want government funding to do good."

The funding assessment comes as Hockey Canada expresses concerns about handing over a final investigation report into the alleged 2018 sexual assault to a parliamentary committee.

MPs on the standing committee on heritage unanimously passed a motion on Monday directing Hockey Canada to share the final report drafted by law firm, Henein Hutchison Robitaille. Hockey Canada hired the law firm in 2018 to