Our Purpose

Reimagine Hockey

The Future of Hockey Lab partners with diverse communities to discover, test, and scale highly innovative ideas that transform the sport’s culture.

"Sometimes it’s the very people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine." - Alan Turing

What We Do

Creating a new future for hockey in Canada that is accessible and welcoming to all. We are working with communities to transform hockey, together.

A catalyst for change

What if folks from communities across the country could get all the support they need to develop game-changing ideas that open up the culture of hockey? We run experiments exploring barriers to access, learning what works and what doesn’t. Then we grow, expand and scale what works for broader impact.

This is the Future of Hockey Lab.

Hockey faces complex, interconnected issues. We’ve found there are two primary challenges:

01

Hockey isn’t very accessible

Many parents can’t afford to put their kids in hockey due to the high cost of participation, difficulty getting access to equipment and infrastructure, and the need for specialized knowledge. These are a few of the barriers.

02

Many people do not feel welcome

Even when accessibility is not an issue, many people do not feel welcome in hockey. Discrimination, status, skill level, and a culture of intimidation can turn potential players away.

Culturally available

Hockey has iconic status in Canada, and we’re inspired to make it culturally available to all Canadians. Hockey teams are often the pride of their communities, and should be as multicultural as the communities they represent. Research shows that hockey culture significantly underserves female players, 2SLGBTQ+ players, racialized communities, and those without the financial means to play. How might we make the sport a welcoming environment for all?

Equitable opportunities

The value of sport to our communities is well documented: self-esteem, teamwork, personal development, and improved education outcomes are some of the benefits.   Hockey receives significant public and private sector investments and is supported by countless volunteer hours. Community leaders want equitable opportunities to sport, and hockey falls short in delivering on this.

How we’ll get there

The Future of Hockey Lab turns ideas into impact.

01 Community

We convene diverse groups with a focus on those who are underrepresented in hockey such as females, 2SLGBTQ+, and BIPOC.

02 Ideas

In our discovery process, we support communities to uncover ideas that can change the game. The ideas tackle sticky problems like the cost of participation, parental behavior, racial slurs, and over-emphasis on the elite (to name a few).

03 Test

Ideas are only possibilities, and strong systems are often resistant to change. At this stage, we nurture, test, and support ideas to realize their impact.

04 Scale

We partner with communities to learn how we might scale ideas that show great potential in testing. We want to reach more people, and expand our impact.

Changemakers Series

As an incubator for culture change in the game, the Future of Hockey Lab launched its first cohort of changemakers in November 2021. Here are some of their stories: