EDMONTON, Alberta – Hockey Canada has published Rise as One, the blueprint for building women’s and girls’ hockey that was developed by a 15-person steering committee chaired by Gillian Apps, a Hockey Canada board member and National Women’s Team alumna.
Rise as One includes 14 national recommendations to support Hockey Canada’s vision to have 170,000 women and girls playing hockey in Canada by 2030 in a system that is healthy, forward-thinking and welcoming to all participants.
The blueprint follows the committee’s national discussion paper in October 2024 that highlighted six barriers to growing the game, and nationwide research that heard from more than 7,000 Canadians to help chart the path ahead for women’s and girls’ hockey in Canada.
“Today is such an exciting day for women’s and girls’ hockey in Canada,” said Apps, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and three-time world champion. “It’s no secret that the women’s and girls’ game continues to grow at a rapid pace, but what Canadians will learn in Rise as One is that as exciting as it is right now, women’s and girls’ hockey can be so much more, to so many more Canadians.
“In particular, we are thrilled that the women’s and girls’ pathways will establish more opportunities for women and girls in Canada and provide them with the gift of choice should they choose to play recreationally, competitively or in high-performance hockey.”
All 14 recommendations are expected to begin implementation by no later than 2028:
The recommendations have been grouped into one of three chronological buckets: game changers (5-10 years), building blocks (3-4 years) and accelerators (1-2 years), and all recommendations address at least one of the six barriers from the national discussion paper.
“As more women and girls continue to get involved with our National Winter Sport than ever before, Rise as One will be a catalyst to ensure that they’re engaging with a sport that is safe, healthy and welcoming for them,” said Katherine Henderson, president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada. “We are looking forward to working with our Members, partners and governments to bring these recommendations to life and elevating women’s and girls’ hockey to levels it has never experienced before in our country.”
As part of the blueprint, Hockey Canada has committed to annual reporting to update Canadians on the progress being made to achieve the recommendations.
“On behalf of Hockey Canada, thank you to the members of the steering committee who devoted their time to listening to the feedback we heard from Canadians and creating this exciting and unprecedented path forward for the women’s and girls’ game,” said Jonathan Goldbloom, chair of the Hockey Canada Board of Directors. “This is a transformational moment for women’s and girls’ hockey and all of us involved with the game must work together to increase access, ensure it’s financially sustainable and advance the sport with equitable growth as we look to welcome even more participants across Canada.”
The Rise as One blueprint can be found here.
Tonight, Canada’s National Women’s Team will wear commemorative Rise as One stickers on their helmets against the United States in the Rivalry Series game at Rogers Place to help launch a nationwide campaign to connect national team athletes with the more than 115,000 women’s and girls’ hockey players across Canada.
In line with the blueprint’s recommendation to drive visibility of women’s and girls’ hockey with the broader public, Hockey Canada-sanctioned associations can request Rise as One stickers for their women’s and girls’ participants for free through the Hockey Canada Registry, with a goal to have all women’s and girls’ hockey players in Canada wearing the same sticker this season.
“The Rise as One campaign is about uniting women’s and girls’ hockey players from coast to coast to coast, whether you are on the National Women’s Team or playing competitively or recreationally in your community,” said Marin Hickox, vice-president of women’s and girls’ hockey for Hockey Canada. “Hockey is for every woman and girl in Canada, and together we can dream bigger and skate further to unite more Canadians through our game.”
TSN and RDS, the official broadcast partners of Hockey Canada, will broadcast tonight’s game, which begins at 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT; check local listings for details.
For more information on Hockey Canada, please visit HockeyCanada.ca, or follow along on Facebook, X, Instagram and TikTok.