WARNING: This article references sexual assault and contains graphic details, and may affect those who have experienced sexual violence or know someone impacted by it.
Nearly a decade after the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) made gender-based violence and consent training mandatory for all major junior teams, the sexual assault centres tasked with teaching the players are having trouble getting some franchises to participate, CBC News has learned.
The OHL Onside Program was developed for junior hockey teams by two sexual assault support centres in the province. The curriculum is delivered to each OHL team by local centres that are members of the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres (OCRCC).
The two-hour program was made mandatory in 2016 and is to be completed at the beginning of each season.
“When a program is labelled as mandatory but there is little to no accountability for participation or follow-through, it raises questions about the league’s commitment to meaningful prevention and education,” said Dina Haddish, the members’ co-ordinator for the OCRCC.
“Without consistent enforcement and evaluation, these initiatives risk becoming performative — serving more as public relations tools than as genuine efforts to shift culture, address harm or support player development.”
Haddish’s comments come as the sexual assault trial of five former Canadian world junior hockey players is well underway in London. The five are accused of engaging in sex acts with a woman without her consent while in London in 2018 to celebrate the gold medal they won earlier in the year.
E.M., the complainant whose identity is protected under a standard publication ban, has testified she consented to sex with one man at the London hotel but not the rest. One of the players recorded two videos of the woman at the end of the night, saying she consented to everything. The woman testified she does not remember making the videos.
“Throughout this trial, it has become increasingly clear that there is a fundamental misunderstanding about consent,” Haddish said. “The notion that consent is something to be captured once — like a checkbox to be ticked before engaging in sexual activity — is patently false.”
The sexual assault trial of five former Canadian world junior hockey players in London, Ont., centres on the issue of consent — what it is and what it is not. Legal experts say some people put misplaced trust in ‘consent videos,’ like the two played in court. All five of the accused have pleaded not guilty.
Haddish said several sexual assault centres have told her they face “ongoing challenges in engaging their local teams.”
“While the intention has been to deliver sessions annually, in some areas, only a limited number have actually taken place in recent years,” Haddish told CBC News. “Common issues include difficulties with scheduling, inconsistent communication, and securing clear commitments around time and compensation. These barriers have made it challenging to deliver the program consistently across regions.”
Training given ‘at least once a year,’ OHL says
Still, the OHL’s director of communication says the Onside Program is mandatory for all teams.
“In addition to Onside training, which all players receive at least once a year, OHL players participate in Players First training. This is a five-module league training program that is comprised of both video and team-led discussion that addresses all of the OHL’s policies, programs and procedures,” Josh Sweetland said in an email. “Included in this are areas such as the Code of Conduct, the Maltreatment, Bullying & Harassment Protection and Prevention Policy, and the league’s reporting systems.”
The league is discussing next year’s program with OCRCC, including “how we might be able to re-evaluate how we best deliver the education to our players” or if there are “opportunities for enhancement,” Sweetland said.
The OHL remains “fully committed” to the Onside program, OHL commissioner Bryan Crawford wrote in an email. “Teams are not permitted to forgo completing the training.”
The No. 1 team in the OHL, the London Knights, are making a run for this year’s Memorial Cup, the major junior hockey national championship. The team is based in the southwestern Ontario city where the 2018 world junior team attended a Hockey Canada gala and where the trial is ongoing.
The Knights haven’t contacted Anova, an agency that advocates against gender-based violence and has previously delivered the Onside program to the Knights, in several years, said Allison Preyde, Anova’s co-ordinator of prevention and education.
Preyde said, “2022 was the last time that we were booked with them to present. It’s troubling.”
“The Onside Program was unique because it was a relationship that the OHL builds with local sexual assault centres, and it was a really intentional relationship with centres that understood the local community and the different dynamics.”
The Knights’ assistant general manager declined to comment for this article.
Sweetland, however, said the Knights have been getting different but comparable training through the London Abused Women’s Centre, which is not a member of the OCRCC, after getting permission from the league.
“They’ve been great partners in providing our players with training in this most important area.”
The London Abused Women’s Centre told CBC News it has delivered a one-hour training program for players with the understanding that the Knights were still taking the mandatory Onside training.
Sweetland said the decision to allow the Knights to opt out of the official Onside training was made by a previous OHL commissioner. Crawford told CBC News that the Knights, along with the OHL’s U.S.-based teams, have been allowed to get training from local agencies “for various operational reasons.”
OHL teams have to provide documentation to the league that players have completed the mandatory training, Sweetland said.
But the league must make more investments in the program, said Haddish, and create mechanisms to keep teams that don’t take the training accountable.
“This should be a clear call for increased investment, consistent enforcement and thoughtful expansion,” she said.
“Programs like this cannot be expected to create meaningful change when limited to a single two-hour workshop. That kind of time constraint doesn’t allow for the depth of relationship-building, reflection and dialogue necessary to shift mindsets or equip players to challenge rape culture.”
One of the five men on trial in London is Alex Formenton, who played for the Knights from 2016 to 2019.
Formenton, Michael McLeod, Carter Hart, Dillon Dubé and Cal Foote are charged with one count each of sexual assault. McLeod is also charged with being a party to the offence for allegedly inviting his teammates to come to his hotel room for group sex with a woman without her consent. All five men have pleaded not guilty.
The Onside Program was launched as a “leading edge initiative” between the OHL and the OCRCC. Its aim is to increase “understanding and awareness of the player’s responsibility to demonstrate respect for women through their actions and words.”
If you’re in immediate danger or fear for your safety or that of others around you, please call 911. For support in your area, you can look for crisis lines and local services via the Ending Violence Association of Canada database.
