Player's Guide to Hockey Canada Junior A Hockey Ages 20 and Under 2026-27

Under Hockey Canada Regulation E (2026-27):

• Junior teams are allotted a maximum of 45 registrants, but cannot have more than 25 players on the roster at any one time (E.1, E.2 (a)).
• On January 10, Junior teams must reduce to no more than 25 in total of players on the roster plus allotted but unused registrations (E.4).
• If the maximum number of players is registered, at least two must be goaltenders (E.5).
• A maximum of nine (9) twenty-year-olds, including Affiliate Players, are permitted on game sheets for all regular season and playoff games in Junior A (E.3).
• A team that has the maximum registered players on its roster on January 10 cannot register any more players that season. A team with fewer can register eligible players until the Final Registration Date, but once a vacancy is filled it cannot be used again (E.11).

Under Hockey Canada Regulations (2026-27):

• November 15 (5:00:00 pm MST): a player who was on a team's roster after the previous season's Final Registration Date becomes a free agent without needing a release if they have not registered with a team in a non-sanctioned league that season and have not consented to register with the team and been added to its roster by this deadline (E.10). If the player is injured, the deadline can be extended to January 10 with a doctor's statement on the injury and expected return and a written consent to remain on the protected list, both provided by November 15.
• January 10 (5:00:00 pm MST): Junior teams' rosters must be reduced to no more than 25 (counting players on the roster plus allotted but unused registrations). A team failing to meet this is ineligible for further competition until it does (E.4, E.7). Players deleted or omitted from the roster on January 10 are automatically released (E.8). A player who is injured or medically unfit for the rest of the season can be included on the January 10 roster without counting in the total, with a medical certificate satisfactory to the Member (E.9).
• February 10: the Final Registration Date, and the last day to file applications for Inter-Member transfers or incoming transfers from another federation (definition 12, H.2).

Under Hockey Canada Regulation E (2026-27):

• Junior teams can register up to six (6) Imports at any one time during the season (E.19 (c)).
• Teams below the level of Major Junior (which includes Junior A), other than Junior Female, are not permitted to register any non-North American Imports (E.19 (c)(i)). A non-North American Import is a player who transfers to Canada from a non-North American country, and specifically excludes Canadian citizens (definition 27).
• No player with Canadian citizenship is classified as an Import in Junior hockey (E.22 (a)).
• A team cannot exceed its quota of Imports at any time. If it has an unused player allotment it can release an Import up to January 10 to register another properly transferred Import. After January 10 it can sign an eligible Import only if it has an Import vacancy, an unused player allotment and fewer than the maximum registered players (E.20).
• An Import who is released can return to the Member they transferred from and play there that season without being considered an Import. If they play with another team in their present Member, they are still an Import (E.21).

Under Hockey Canada Regulation F (2026-27):

• A player 16 or older can be selected as an Affiliate Player with two of the following in the same season: a Major Junior team, a Junior A team, a Junior B team, and a Junior C team (F.14).
• A player on a team in a lower division or category can Affiliate to teams in higher divisions or categories (including Junior A) at any time, up to 10 games per team (F.15 (a)).
• Exhibition and tournament games that are not part of regular league or playoff games do not count towards the limit, and neither do games from affiliation arising from the National Junior / Under 17 / Canada Winter Games / World Junior A Challenge (F.15 (d), (e)).
• Your name appearing on the official game report counts as taking part in the game. The exception is an alternate goaltender, where only actual participation counts (F.15 (f)).
• If your registered team finishes its regular season and playoffs before your affiliate team does, you can Affiliate an unlimited number of times. You stay a registered participant of your original team and are not counted among the higher team's registered players (F.16).
• 15-year-olds (first year eligible U18) can Affiliate to a Major Junior team and a Junior A or B team, with a maximum of 5 games with each, and cannot Affiliate to both a Junior A and a Junior B team. A team can Affiliate no more than 5 such players, and can have only one 15-year-old affiliate in its line-up per game (F.17).

Under Hockey Canada Regulation G (2026-27):

• To move to another team you must first be Released from your team's HCR roster. The release is effective when the team releases you from the roster (G.1, G.4).
• Releases are unconditional, although a Member (provincial or territorial branch) can set conditions or criteria on releases within its own area (G.5). The Member's Executive Director can refuse a transfer to another team in the same Member even after a release (G.3).
• You can appeal to obtain your release under By-Law 46, after exhausting all appeal options within your Member (G.7).
• A suspended player can be released only at the discretion of the Member and Hockey Canada, and only if it is arranged that you serve the suspension with the new team (G.6).
• You do not need a release if, for example, you were not registered with any team in Hockey Canada or another federation the previous season, you are of Junior age or younger and your parent moves house and you move with them, your team disbanded on or before January 10, or you were registered the previous season with a team that does not operate this season (G.9).
• A player deleted or omitted from a team's roster on January 10 is automatically released on that date and can register with any other team if otherwise eligible (E.8).
• If you want to re-sign with your former team after being released, you must obtain a new player registration (E.16).

No. Under Hockey Canada Regulation H.10, a Junior player's playing rights can be transferred to another team only if the player approves the transfer. If the player is under 18, the player's parent must also approve in writing, and the team must keep a record of the approval.

A Junior player who is transferred without that written approval is deemed to have been Released unconditionally (H.11).

A player who was on a team's roster after the Final Registration Date the previous season becomes a free agent without needing a release if they have not registered with a team in a non-sanctioned league that season and have not consented to register with the team and been added to its roster by 5:00:00 pm MST on November 15 (E.10). If the team wants to trade such a player on or before November 15, it must register the player on its roster first.

Under Hockey Canada Regulation H (2026-27):

• Inter-Member transfer: first get a Release from your last team, then you or your parent endorse the transfer application. It is started on the HCR with the application form, your registration and the Release attached, and must be fully approved before you register with a team in the new Member (H.5, H.6).
• Response time: the Member you are applying to must approve or reject within 3 business days, giving reasons for a rejection. A rejection without reasons is deemed an approval. The 3-day limit does not apply from May 1 to July 31 (H.7, H.8).
• Deadlines: applications for Inter-Member transfers, or incoming transfers from another federation, must be filed by February 10. Outgoing IIHF transfers must be filed by February 15 (H.2).
• Age 17 and under: a player of U18 eligibility or younger cannot transfer between Members, or in from another federation, to play anything other than Major Junior, unless an exception in G.9 (b) or (c) applies. A player in their last year of U18 eligibility may be granted an Inter-Member transfer to a Junior A team in another Member when there is no Junior A hockey in their Residential Member (H.1 (a)). You can also appeal to the National Appeals Committee if you can show special circumstances (H.1 (c)).
• No sitting idle: a transferred player must be placed on the team's roster within 2 weeks of the approved transfer date, or the Member or Hockey Canada can release them (H.3).
• Other federations: a Hockey Canada player who plays a regular league game for a team in another federation is ineligible for Hockey Canada competition for the rest of that season unless properly transferred back (H.13). Transfers to or from another federation follow Appendix H1 (IIHF) or H2 (USA Hockey/Hockey Canada/CHL).

Under Hockey Canada Regulation E (2026-27 By-laws and Regulations):

• A player who takes part on a varsity or junior varsity team at a college or university after January 10 of the current season is ineligible to play with a Hockey Canada team for the rest of that season (E.17).
• A player who takes part with a professional hockey team after January 10 is ineligible to play with a Hockey Canada team for the rest of the season (E.18).
• A player who was released from a Hockey Canada team after January 10 cannot play with any other Hockey Canada or USA Hockey team that season, and the team cannot replace them (E.13, E.14). A player released from a team in any other federation after January 10 is ineligible for any Hockey Canada team for the rest of that season (E.15).
• A player who was previously registered with a Junior team (not Major Junior) and leaves it to join a Major Junior team, a college or university varsity or junior varsity team, a team in another federation or a non-sanctioned league, and is later released, must return to that Junior team if it has an open place on its registration allotment (G.10).

Under Hockey Canada Playing Rule 7.10 (2026-28):

• A player who fights an opposing player is assessed a Major penalty and a Game Misconduct. A Minor penalty cannot be assessed for fighting.
• A Game Misconduct is also assessed to a player who joins a fight, acts as a peacemaker, or takes part in another or secondary fight during the same stoppage.
• A Misconduct is assessed to a player who does not return to their bench (or the neutral area set by the Referee) when a fight occurs.
• An instigator (the player who starts a fight, for example by throwing the first punch or by a verbal invitation or threat) receives an additional Minor penalty under Rule 7.11. Where two players are both willing combatants, no instigator or aggressor penalty is assessed.
• A Match penalty is assessed to a player who uses a ring, tape or other material on their hands to gain an advantage or inflict injury in a fight.
• A Gross Misconduct is assessed to a player who fights with, or joins a fight involving, a team official.
• A goaltender who leaves the crease during a fight receives a Minor penalty.
• In Junior and Senior, a secure jersey tie-down is required, and a player who keeps fighting after the jersey comes above the shoulder blades or off an arm can be penalized for Illegal Equipment (Rule 3.9, 10.6 (a)).

Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-28 have these Junior (and Senior) specific rules:

• Jersey tie-down (Rule 3.9): all players must wear a secure jersey tie-down.
• Head contact (Rule 7.7): there is no legal contact to the head, face or neck. A Minor penalty and a Misconduct penalty are assessed for contact with a moderate degree of violence. A Major penalty and Game Misconduct are assessed for a high degree of violence. A Match penalty is assessed for hitting a player in the head so they cannot protect themselves, or for deliberately attempting to injure by head contact.
• Coincidental Minors (Rule 4.6): when teams are at full strength and a single Minor is assessed to one player on each team at the same stoppage, play resumes with both teams short-handed and no immediate substitution.
• No-change on icing (Rule 6.1 (f)): a team that ices the puck cannot make a line change.
• Face-off violations after an icing (Rule 6.5): the first violation is a warning from the Lineperson. A later violation by the same team at the same stoppage is a Minor penalty for Delay of Game.
• Face-off location (Rule 6.4): after an icing or a time penalty, the attacking team chooses the end-zone face-off location.