What's stopping more women and girls from playing hockey? Canadian sports body has some answers

Hockey Canada has identified some of the challenges it faces in reaching its goal of having more than 170,000 girls and women playing hockey in Canada by 2030.

That's up from more than 100,000 women and girls registered by Hockey Canada this year to play in sanctioned hockey programs.

But a discussion paper released Tuesday cites a list of barriers, identified through research from Hockey Canada, its members and Canadian Women and Sport, that are negatively affecting the growth and potential of women's and girls' hockey in Canada.

They include education and training, policy and governance, structure and equity in resource allocation.

"One day, we hope no girl is kept from participating in hockey because of gender-based barriers," says the discussion paper titled Building the Future of Women's and Girls' Hockey. "However, success depends on our ensuring the Canadian hockey system is prepared to continue to support this unprecedented growth.

The reality is, as it is set up today, it is not. But that isn't to say it cannot evolve."

In the 2023-24 hockey season, there were 108,313 women and girls registered as players in Hockey Canada-sanctioned programs, which represented 19.9 per cent of all participants — the highest percentage in Canadian hockey history.

But compared to boys and men, data shows that girls and women playing hockey in Canada play for fewer years and have a poorer year-over-year retention rate.

The average length in hockey for girls and women is 7.24 years, which is more than 2.4 years less than boys and men, and in the 2023-24 season, the retention rate for girls and women was 84.9 per cent, 2.9 per cent lower than boys and men.

In May, Hockey Canada announced the formation of a committee chaired by former