Who must be on my U13 bench, and how many team officials are allowed?

Under Rule 2.1 (b) of the Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-2028, a team may have no more than five registered team officials on the Official Game Report who are permitted on the players' bench. They must include at minimum:

• one Coach who meets the certification requirements of your Member (your provincial or territorial branch); and
• one Hockey Canada Safety Person (the HTCP in Ontario).

The Hockey Canada By-Laws (2026-27) define a Team the same way: it must include a Coach who meets Member certification requirements and one person qualified in the Hockey Canada Safety Program (or, until the end of the 2027-28 season, the HTCP in Ontario). Team Officials include the coach, manager, safety person/trainer, equipment manager, team physician and team executive or board members.

On-ice officials do not check certification. If they see an irregularity on the game report, the referee reports it to the Member or league delegate. Hockey Canada's registration system records each coach's level of certification, season of qualification and criminal record check, and each safety person's level, expiry date and criminal record check.