Registrar's Guide to Hockey Canada Registration 2026-27

The Member Executive Director (or their designate) will not approve a registration until they are satisfied that:

• it is fully completed in the HCR with all the required information (see the mandatory fields question); and
• the team seeking to register the player holds the player's playing rights, shown by a fully approved player transfer and fully approved trade documentation, as applicable.

Other requirements:

• Every player applying for the first time must submit proof of age satisfactory to the Member.
• The person must be an Amateur, not under suspension by Hockey Canada, any Member or any other Federation, and not a member of any MHA or team under another Federation's jurisdiction. Hockey Canada and its Members may refuse to register any person for any reason the Member considers appropriate, in absolute discretion.
• A team becomes a Registered Participant by following the registration procedures of the Member whose Geographic Subdivision it is in. The Member may accept or refuse any team's registration.
• Once registered with a team, a player stays with it until released or until a Regulation G.9 exception applies. The minimum number of registered players on teams not competing for a Regional or National Championship is set by the Member and cannot be less than 6.
• MHAs must give their Member the names and contact information of their President and Secretary each year or when they change. Junior and Senior teams must keep their Member informed of their owner, President, Secretary and at least 2 designated signing officers for releasing players.

Source: Hockey Canada By-laws and Regulations 2026-27, Regulations D.2, D.4, D.8, D.11 to D.16.

All times are MST where the By-laws give a time.

• June 1: registration for the upcoming season opens for Junior and Senior teams in non-Female Divisions. Teams in good standing get HCR roster access from June 1, and Members cannot approve those registrations earlier.
• August 15 (Junior) and October 1 (Senior): after these dates the Member may release players from a team that, in the Member's opinion, has no intention of operating this season.
• November 15, 5:00:00 pm: a player who was on a roster after the Final Registration Date last season becomes a free agent without needing a release if they have not registered with a team in a non-sanctioned League and have not consented to register and been added to a team's roster by this time. A team can keep the player's rights to this date without rostering them (a protected list where the League uses one). An injured player's deadline can be extended to January 10 with a doctor's statement and the player's (or Parent's) written consent, both provided by November 15.
• January 10, 5:00:00 pm: Junior and Senior roster cutdowns, and the last date to release a player who can still register elsewhere. Players released after January 10 cannot play for any other Hockey Canada or USA Hockey team that season, and the team cannot replace them. Players on a varsity or junior varsity team at a college or university, or with a professional team, after January 10 are ineligible to play with a Hockey Canada team for the rest of the season (the college and university rule does not apply to Female Divisions other than teams in League, Regional and National playoffs leading to the ESSO Cup).
• February 10, 5:00:00 pm (Final Registration Date): the latest an approved registration is accepted, and the final date for Inter-Member Transfer applications and incoming transfers from another Federation. After this date Members may, at their discretion, add players to a roster for competition that does not lead to a Regional or National Championship.
• February 15: final date for outgoing IIHF transfer applications.

Source: Hockey Canada By-laws and Regulations 2026-27, Regulations A.12, D.1, D.3, D.17, E.7 to E.18 and H.2.

Registration allotments issued by Members:

• Senior and Junior: maximum 45 registrants.
• Senior Female, Junior Female, U21 and U18: maximum 25 registrants.
• U15, U13, U11 and U9: maximum 20 registrants.
• U7: unlimited.

Roster caps (other than Junior Female): no more than 25 players for Junior teams, and no more than 20 players for Minor Hockey teams at all levels including Hockey Canada Accredited School teams. A Member may allow an Accredited School team up to 22 players if it has no lower Division or Category team within the school to affiliate with.

If a team registers the maximum number under these rules, at least 2 of the registered players must be goaltenders.

January 10 (5:00:00 pm MST) cutdowns do not apply to Senior Female and Junior Female:

• Junior teams must reduce to no more than 25 in total of roster players plus allotted but unused registrations.
• Senior AAA teams must reduce to no more than 28 on the roster. Senior teams below AAA may register up to 30 (at the Member's sole discretion).
• A team that misses the deadline is declared ineligible for further competition until it complies, and non-compliance means all players are declared Released from the team.
• Players deleted or omitted from a roster as of January 10 are automatically Released.
• A team with the maximum number of players on January 10 cannot register further players that season. A team with fewer, and unused allotment, can register eligible players until the Final Registration Date, but a filled vacancy cannot be used again.

Junior A teams may have at most 9 twenty-year-olds, including affiliates, on game sheets.

Source: Hockey Canada By-laws and Regulations 2026-27, Regulation E.1 to E.11.

Players 17 years of age and below must register in the Member where their Parent(s) live. The exception is a player registered in a Hockey Canada School With Residence or Hockey Canada Accredited School who registers with one of that school's teams.

A player's residence is:

• the Parents' usual residence when the Parents live in the same house; or
• where the Parents live separately, the usual residence of the Parent the player usually lives with. "Usual residence" means 4 out of 7 days. If the player lives equally with both Parents, the Member decides the place of residence.

If a custodial Parent changes because of a guardianship order to someone who was not the player's Parent before the order, and the player moves to another Member to live with that person, the player cannot in the first season after the change register or affiliate with any team that could earn the right to play in a Hockey Canada Regional or National Championship.

Who can assign residence: Hockey Canada may, on application, deem a player resident in a Member other than where their Parent lives (final and binding). A Member may, on application, deem a player resident in a place within the Member other than where their Parent lives (final and binding). Members may also add their own residency rules for forming teams within their Geographic Subdivision, and may restrict residential qualifications for Senior and Junior teams.

Source: Hockey Canada By-laws and Regulations 2026-27, Regulation C.

A player moving from one team to another within the Member must first be Released from the HCR roster of the MHA or team they are registered with. A Release is effective when the team or MHA releases the player from the HCR roster. Releases are unconditional, although Members can set conditions or criteria for releases within their Geographic Subdivision. Even with a Release, the Member Executive Director can refuse a transfer to another team in the same Member.

A suspended player can only be Released at the discretion of the Member and Hockey Canada, and only if they will serve the suspension with the new team, MHA, Member or Federation. A player may appeal to obtain a Release after exhausting appeals within their Member.

A player does not need a Release when, among the exceptions in Regulation G.9:

• they were not a Registered Participant of any team or MHA in Hockey Canada or another Federation the previous season;
• they are Junior age or under and their Parent moves and the player continues to live with the Parent;
• they are Minor Hockey age and register with a Hockey Canada Accredited School team or a Hockey Canada School With Residence (unless already registered with a team for the same season under Member regulations);
• they are in the permanent military forces or the R.C.M.P. and their residence changes;
• there is no team in their age Division in their Geographic Subdivision, or they become over-age through League self-imposed age restrictions;
• their team disbanded on or before January 10;
• their previous season's team does not operate this season.

If an Inter-Member Transfer is needed for an exempt player, the incoming Member's registrar must ensure, by statement or otherwise, that the player meets the exception.

Source: Hockey Canada By-laws and Regulations 2026-27, Regulation G.1 to G.9.

A player moving to a team in another Member must follow Regulation H.

1. The player first obtains a Release from the last team or MHA they were registered with. The player or their Parent then endorses the transfer application.
2. The Inter-Member Transfer is initiated in the HCR with the application form, the player's registration and the Release attached.
3. The player must hold a fully approved Inter-Member Transfer before registering with a team in the new Member.
4. The Member receiving the application must approve or reject it within 3 business days. A rejection must state reasons, and a rejection without reasons is deemed an approval. The 3-business-day period does not apply from May 1 to July 31 each year.
5. The final date for filing Inter-Member Transfer applications, or incoming transfers from another Federation, is February 10. For outgoing IIHF transfers it is February 15.
6. A transferred player cannot be held idle: they must be placed on the team's roster within 2 weeks of the approved transfer date, or the Member or Hockey Canada may release them.

A player who does not need a Release under the Regulation G.9 exceptions still needs an Inter-Member Transfer before playing for any team in the new Member. In general, a player of U18 eligibility or under cannot be transferred between Members, or from another Federation, to play other than Major Junior hockey, unless Regulation G.9(b) or (c) applies, with limited exceptions in Regulation H.1.

Source: Hockey Canada By-laws and Regulations 2026-27, Regulation H.1 to H.9.

Affiliation lets a higher Division or Category team dress players who are not on its roster.

• Numbers: Senior AAA (other than Senior Female) may select 10 affiliated players, at least 1 a goaltender if the maximum is used. All other categories may select 19, at least 2 goaltenders if the maximum is used.
• Where from: only from lower Division or Category teams operating in the same Geographic Subdivision, with all players and teams properly registered in the HCR.
• Endorsement: an affiliate may not play for the selecting team until the Member Executive Director has endorsed their registration as an affiliate. That endorsement cannot be given before written consent from both teams is filed.
• Approval: the player needs the approval of their registered team or MHA to be selected and to play.
• Replacement: once endorsed, a player stays on the list for the season unless their registered team releases them on or before January 10, or the higher team transfers their rights to another team in the same Division or Category.
• Other limits: a player can be on only one affiliate list per Category at a time. Affiliates are marked "AP" on the game report. Teams from different Divisions or Categories in the same League cannot affiliate between themselves. All affiliations end at the end of the season.
• Games: for Junior A, Junior B and teams eligible for Regional and National Championships, an affiliate may play up to 10 games per team. For other Categories the Member sets the number.

Source: Hockey Canada By-laws and Regulations 2026-27, Regulation F.

The HCR must hold these fields for team officials:

• Role on Team/MHA: Player, Goaltender, Coach, Bench Staff, Safety, or Official.
• Coach: level of coach certification, season of qualification and criminal record check.
• Safety personnel: level, expiry date and criminal record check.
• Official (referee or linesperson): certification, season of qualification and criminal record check.

A team must include at least one coach who meets the Member's certification requirements and one person qualified in the Hockey Canada Safety Program (the HTCP in Ontario, until no later than the end of the 2027-28 season). No more than five registered team officials may be on the Official Game Report and on the players' bench, and they must include at least one such coach and one Hockey Canada Safety Person.

On game day, on-ice officials do not decide anything about team officials' certification. They report any irregularity to the Member or league delegate for action.

Hockey Canada's current Code of Conduct Policy says officials, team personnel and staff complete screening under Hockey Canada's Screening and Compliance Policy before participating and periodically afterwards. Screening may include a criminal record and vulnerable sector check, reference checks, an interview, a disclosure form and required training.

Sources: By-laws and Regulations 2026-27, Regulations A.41, A.42 and D.9; Hockey Canada Playing Rules 2026-28, Rule 2.1(b) and Interpretation 1; Code of Conduct Policy, Screening Requirements.

Every Minor Hockey Association and Team Official is responsible for any representation made to Hockey Canada about the eligibility of its players, including a player's age. If a team plays an ineligible player, the team is subject to the discipline described in Regulation O.

All registration submissions made through the HCR by an MHA or team are deemed to be submitted by the signing officers of that organization. If a team uses a player who is not properly registered, the Member has the right to discipline the MHA or team as it sees fit.

Source: Hockey Canada By-laws and Regulations 2026-27, Regulations D.5, D.6 and G.1.