New starting April 1, 2026, The Shift Forward is an enhanced education program that was created following an extensive consultation process with stakeholders in Hockey Canada programs to understand how education and training can better support participants and the key objective of changing unhealthy behaviours in the game.
PARENTS/GUARDIANS — THE SHIFT FORWARD
The Shift Forward program is a mandatory requirement for one parent of each child registered in minor hockey within Canada. The program is an online session that takes a little over an hour to complete and addresses topics such as being a good sport parent, interacting with coaches, officials ,and other parents, and concussion awareness.
This course is $11.50 plus tax.
TEAM OFFICIAL + ON-ICE OFFICIAL — THE SHIFT FORWARD
The Shift Forward is an enhanced education program developed through an extensive consultation process with stakeholders across Hockey Canada programs. This process included a comprehensive national Training Needs Analysis, which identified key opportunities to improve how education and training are delivered across the game.
This specific course is for Team Officials (coach/bench staff) as well as On-Ice Officials.
The program is designed to:
- Deliver age-appropriate and modernized learning experiences
- Provide engaging and role-specific content for participants
- Support progressive learning pathways throughout a participant’s hockey journey
- Promote positive culture change, with a focus on addressing and reducing unhealthy behaviours on and off the ice
This course is $26.99 plus tax.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Hockey Canada is embarking on a pivotal change and launched The Shift Forward following a national Training Needs Analysis that concluded education and training in hockey would help lead to changing behaviours if it was age-appropriate, role-specific and geared towards the experiences of participants, and not a one-size-fits-all approach. The Shift Forward is focused on transformational change on how we approach training to achieve creating a safe and welcoming environment and empowering those who engage in the game to manage unhealthy behaviours.
Although hockey-specific training is a pivot away from a long-standing practice of acquiring certification that can be transferred to other sports, Hockey Canada heard through a national Training Needs Analysis that there was significant benefit to having training being geared toward the experiences of participants.
The Future of Sport Commission released preliminary findings and recommendations which outlined that limiting education to only select groups that are in the sport ecosystem can undermine the collective responsibility to prevent and respond to maltreatment. As such, all groups should be included in education and training, including coaches, officials, parents/guardians, support staff and even children, if the education is age appropriate.
The modules that have been developed as part of The Shift Forward have been tailored for each specific audience (coaches, officials, rostered staff and parents/guardians). The training for each audience group may have similarities, as some content is appropriate for all audiences, but all examples, scenarios and additional elements have been tailored for the realities of the roles fulfilled within hockey.
By launching The Shift Forward, Hockey Canada can create training modules that are age-appropriate, role-specific and geared towards the experiences of participants. The program can also better add and modify training based on the educational needs of participants in sanctioned hockey, rather than rely on third-party providers that may offer one-size-fits-all training for different roles and/or sports.
The Shift Forward will cover a variety of topics covers topics focused on shifting the culture of hockey forward. For the 2026-27 season, the modules within the program will cover the following themes: hockey culture, being an active bystander, how to have crucial conversations, autonomy, individual rights, grooming and consent.
The time it will take to complete the program will vary depending on what role(s) the participant has in the hockey ecosystem and how intentional they are when taking each module. The below table outlines (in minutes) how long learners can expect the program to take:
Additional courses on a variety of topics are being planned in collaboration with Hockey Canada’s Members. These additional topics will be informed by the issues that are being identified within the game. Additional information will be released at a later date.
For those individuals who took the first module of The Shift Forward in the 2025-26 season, they will need to re-enter the program to only complete the three new modules being released for the 2026-27 season.
Hockey Canada is committed to providing progressive education to the hockey community. Hockey Canada and its Members are collaborating on what re-certification cadence would look like with respect to everyone’s time, while focusing on addressing unhealthy behaviours in the game. Information will be shared at a later date.
Whether a new course will be mandatory or not will be determined after consultation with Members.
The Shift Forward will be become mandatory to complete starting in the 2028-29 season. This means that Hockey Canada and its Members will recognize existing training (Respect in Sport) until the conclusion of the 2027-28 season.
For the 2026-27 season, The Shift Forward is launching for coaches, rostered staff, parents/guardians and officials. Each individual Member is required to determine which participants in their environment are required to complete for this season.
Any individual who becomes rostered for a season who may not be coach. These individuals could include positions like managers, safety person(s), and equipment managers.
As the curriculum is being built to have tailored and specific education for different audiences in hockey, there will be the need to take portions of the education that are specific to the roles that a participant holds in hockey. To simplify, if the participant is a coach and an official, they would be required to take The Shift Forward for coaches and the officials version of the content that was not already covered in the coach version. This allows them to take role relevant content, while minimizing the amount of repeated content.
Previous training such as Respect in Sport courses will be accepted by Hockey Canada and its Members until the conclusion of the 2027-28 hockey season. For the 2028-29 hockey season, The Shift Forward will be required for participation.
The intention is for players to take age-appropriate education through The Shift Forward. The training is currently being developed with experts, and Hockey Canada is collaborating with its Members to align on the best approach to release this content. More details will be released at a future date.
The program for coaches, rostered staff and officials costs $26.99 plus tax.
The parent/guardian program costs $11.50 plus tax.
Please contact:
Jeff Stewart
E: [email protected]
Director of Programs & Events, Ontario Hockey Federation
