Governance Review

Hockey Manitoba is at an important moment in its evolution. Over the past year, our organization has undertaken a comprehensive governance review, supported by external expertise, and informed by feedback from across our membership. This work was initiated to ensure that Hockey Manitoba is positioned to lead effectively, govern responsibly, and support the game in a way that reflects modern best practices and the expectations of our members.

What you are reviewing today is not a final decision document. It is a Consultative Working Model — the current outcome of extensive Board discussion, working group analysis, and a recent two-day in-person Board session where the proposed governance structure and transition approach were tested, refined, and debated in detail.

We are sharing this draft intentionally and early. We believe meaningful governance change requires:

• Transparency over process
• Time for understanding and discussion
• Space for members to review, ask questions, and provide input
• No surprises ahead of formal decision points

This working model outlines how Hockey Manitoba can transition to a fully independent governance Board, modernize its voting structure, and clearly separate governance from day-to-day operations — all with the goal of strengthening accountability, improving decision-making, and better supporting safe, positive hockey experiences across Manitoba. Between now and the May 2026 Annual General Meeting, no final structure will be adopted without formal member approval. The purpose of sharing this working draft now is to ensure the membership has adequate time to review the model, understand what is being proposed, and engage in informed dialogue well in advance of any vote. We encourage you to read the document in that spirit — as a living framework, not a finished product. Your voice matters in this process, and your engagement will help shape the final path forward.

Thank you for the role you play in the game and in the future of Hockey Manitoba.

Boyd Canart
Hockey Manitoba President, Board of Directors

Trevor Buhnai
Chief Executive Officer, Hockey Manitoba

This explainer is designed to help members understand:

1- What has evolved since the independent governance review.

2- What is newly proposed in the current Working Draft

3- Why these changes are being considered

4- What is not yet final

This explainer should be read alongside the Governance Model & Transition Plan – Working Draft.

Why Hockey Manitoba Is Reviewing Its Governance

Hockey Manitoba exists to advance amateur hockey for all Manitobans through progressive leadership and a safe, sportsmanlike environment. To continue fulfilling that mission effectively, the organization must ensure its governance structure supports:

• Clear accountability
• Timely and principled decision-making
• Transparency and trust
• Long-term sustainability

In early 2025, Hockey Manitoba commissioned an independent governance review by Spark Solutions. That review identified several challenges common to large, volunteer-driven sport organizations, including:

• Blurred lines between governance and operations
• Decision-making that was often operational rather than strategic
• Structural conflicts of interest
• A governance framework that had grown complex over time

The review also identified strong opportunities — including a committed volunteer base and a membership that expressed a clear desire for governance improvement.

What Has Changed Since the Governance Review

The Spark Solutions report provided recommendations and options. Since then, the Board has moved into a design and refinement phase, resulting in a more detailed working model. Key areas of evolution include:

1 - A Fully Independent Board of Directors

What’s New
The working model proposes a Board composed entirely of independent Directors who:

• Do not represent specific regions, councils, or portfolios
• Act solely in the best interests of Hockey Manitoba as a whole

Clear independence criteria have been drafted to protect objectivity and avoid conflicts of interest.

Why
This aligns Hockey Manitoba with governance best practices used across Canadian sport and non-profit organizations. Independence:

• Reduces real and perceived conflicts
• Allows Directors to focus on strategy, oversight, and long-term health
• Supports decisions made for the benefit of the entire membership

This model applies only to Board Directors and does not restrict volunteer participation in operational committees, working groups, or hockey programming.

2 - Clear Separation Between Governance and Operations

What’s New
The model formally separates:

• The Board’s role: Vision, strategy, policy, oversight
• The CEO’s role: Day-to-day operations, staff leadership, execution
• A Board–CEO Delegation Policy is included to clearly define authority and accountability.

Why
This clarity:

• Improves efficiency
• Reduces duplication
• Allows volunteers to focus on governance while staff focus on delivery
• Aligns with modern sport governance standards

3 - A Modernized Voting Structure

What’s New
The proposed voting model:

• Retains member voting authority on core governance matters
• Introduces a capped, tiered voting system based on participation numbers
• Seeks to balance fairness, scale, and inclusivity

Why
The goal is to:

• Recognize differences in membership size
• Prevent disproportionate influence by any single group
• Preserve meaningful participation for both large and small associations

The distinction between having a voice and having a vote is intentional: all members should be heard, while voting authority is focused on governance responsibilities.

4 - A Transparent, Skills-Based Nominations Process

What’s New

• The working draft proposes:
• A formal Nominations Committee
• A skills matrix to guide recruitment
• Screening, interviews, and reference checks
• Committee endorsement of candidates who best address identified skill gaps

All qualified candidates would still appear on the ballot for member vote.

Why
This approach:

• Improves Board effectiveness
• Encourages diversity of experience and perspective
• Moves recruitment from reactive to intentional
• Supports long-term leadership sustainability

5 - A Phased and Deliberate Transition Plan

What’s New
Rther than immediate structural change, the model outlines:

• A multi-year transition
• Consultation, education, and legal preparation phases
• Transitional bylaws
• A “clean slate” election once the system is fully ready

Why
Governance change is complex. A phased approach:

• Reduces disruption
• Allows learning and adjustment
• Provides time for members to engage meaningfully
• Ensures readiness before full implementation

What This Document Is — and Is Not

This Document Is:

• A working draft
• A reflection of current Board thinking
• A tool for consultation and dialogue
• An opportunity for members to understand and engage early

This Document Is Not:

• A final bylaw package
• A predetermined outcome
• A replacement for member voting
• A closed process

What Happens Next

Between now and the May 2026 AGM:

• Members will have opportunities to review and ask questions
• Feedback will be gathered and considered
• Transitional bylaws will be developed and shared
• Any final governance changes will require formal member approval

In Closing

This governance evolution is about positioning Hockey Manitoba for the future — strengthening trust, improving clarity, and ensuring the organization can continue to serve the game and its participants effectively.

We invite you to review the working draft thoughtfully, discuss it within your organizations, and engage with the process as it continues to evolve.

As Hockey Manitoba looks toward its future, one of the most important shifts we must make is learning to consistently view the game through a big-picture lens.

Hockey Manitoba does not operate a single program or service. It functions as a parent organization overseeing a complex ecosystem of interconnected structures, each with its own responsibilities, pressures, and realities. The long-term success of the system depends on how well these parts understand one another, how clearly roles are defined, and how effectively they are supported.

The key question becomes:

How do we better understand, respect, and support the uniqueness of each part of the system while ensuring alignment, sustainability, and fairness across the whole?

The Family as the Primary Customer

If we begin where the system truly starts, we begin with the family.

A family’s hockey journey begins the moment they pull into a rink parking lot for the first time. Their experience is immediately shaped by fundamental questions:

• Where is the facility located and how does it function?
• What is the time commitment required?
• What will this cost financially?
• Who owns the relationship with them as customers?
• What level of service and communication are they receiving?
• Are there options that reflect varying commitment levels, ability, and family circumstance?

Families do not see silos. They do not differentiate between associations, leagues, regions, Hockey Manitoba, or the national organization. To them, it is one experience. When that experience is confusing, costly, inconsistent, or poorly communicated, trust erodes quickly.

Understanding and designing around the family journey must be central to every decision we make.

Minor Hockey Associations: Community-Based Businesses

In reality, Minor Hockey Associations are often volunteer-run organizations that operate as small community businesses.

Each season they face real operational questions:

• How do we keep the doors open?
• Do we require kitchens, door fees, or fundraisers to cover facility costs?
• Do we have enough players to form teams?
• Do we have caretakers, referees, and coaches to operate safely?
• How much must we charge families, and how do we budget responsibly?
• How many league games and tournaments can we realistically support?
• What ice availability do we have?
• What policies guide us when things go wrong?

Associations also ask a fundamental question that has too often gone unanswered:

What support are we receiving from our Region, Hockey Manitoba, and Hockey Canada in return for the fees, compliance requirements, and administrative burden placed on local volunteers and families?

Acknowledging the Support Gap

The Hockey Manitoba Board of Directors and our entire Operational Staff understand and agree that this support has often been unclear, inconsistent, or difficult to navigate.

Associations and volunteers are frequently asked to meet growing expectations without clear answers to:

• Where support should come from
• What level of assistance is available
• Who is accountable for providing it

This lack of clarity has contributed to frustration, inefficiency, uneven experiences across the province, and unnecessary conflict between levels of the system.

Recognizing this reality is a key reason Hockey Manitoba has concluded that change is required.

Leagues: Organizing Meaningful Competition

Leagues represent another critical layer of the hockey ecosystem. Their role is to organize competition that is fair, consistent, and developmentally appropriate.

They must address questions such as:

• How is league play structured: competitive, radius-based, or a blend?
• Who holds financial oversight and decision-making authority?
• Who manages trophies, banners, and league identity?
• Who has authority when conflicts or altercations arise?
• What policies govern discipline, scheduling, and disputes?
• What are the league’s budgets and long-term plans?

Leagues cannot function effectively without clear authority, strong governance, and alignment with regional and provincial direction.

The Hockey Manitoba Board of Directors and our entire Operational Staff understand and agree that inconsistent league governance and varying levels of oversight have contributed to confusion, inequity, and avoidable pressure on volunteers and families.

Regions: Oversight, Delivery, and Accountability

Regions carry one of the most complex roles in the hockey ecosystem.

They oversee Minor Hockey Associations while also delivering AA and AAA programs. This includes:

• Enforcing residency and participation requirements
• Supporting associations with policy, discipline, training, and organization
• Hiring coaches and mentoring managers
• Running development programs
• Managing complaints and conflict
• Operating and balancing regional budgets
• Convening association leadership to understand challenges and barriers

Regions are also responsible for bringing issues, recommendations, and proposed regulation or bylaw changes forward through councils to Hockey Manitoba.

This is a significant operational and governance responsibility, most often carried by volunteers.

The Hockey Manitoba Board of Directors and our entire Operational Staff acknowledge that expectations placed on regions have increased over time, while clarity around authority, accountability, and support has not always kept pace.

Systemic Barriers Across the Hockey System

Across Minor Hockey Associations, Leagues, and Regions, there are recurring barriers that limit effectiveness and place unsustainable pressure on volunteers.

Volunteer Capacity and Burnout

• Fewer individuals are stepping forward for leadership roles
• Volunteers remain in positions far longer than intended
• Burnout and fatigue are increasingly common

Entrenchment and Role Stagnation

• Limited succession planning
• Informal knowledge retention
• Barriers to new leadership and fresh perspectives

Growing Demands and Rising Expectations

• Increased program complexity
• Expectations that mirror professional sport administration
• Volunteers managing issues beyond their training or capacity

Conflicts of Interest and Self-Motivated Decision-Making

• Personal or local interests influencing decisions
• Erosion of trust and fairness across the system

Gaps in Role Knowledge and Operational Efficiency

• Limited understanding of fiduciary responsibility
• Unclear authority and role boundaries
• Repeated inefficiencies year after year

Reactive Decision-Making

• Decisions driven by pressure rather than evidence
• Limited use of data and structured feedback

Shortages of Coaches and Referees

• Difficulty enforcing standards
• Volunteers placed in uncomfortable positions
• Inconsistent accountability

The Hockey Manitoba Board of Directors and our entire Operational Staff recognize that these challenges are structural, not individual, and cannot be solved through goodwill alone.

Unintended Consequences: When Decisions Create Ripple Effects

In hockey, every decision creates counter-effects that are not always immediately visible.

One clear example is the normalization of two practices per week. This approach was never broadly evaluated, researched, or formally required, yet became an unspoken standard.

As it spread across the system, the following consequences emerged:

• Increased costs due to higher ice demand
• Ice shortages, particularly in rural communities
• Players pushed to neighbouring centres to find ice
• Increased time commitments affecting recruitment and retention
• Reduced grassroots participation

Additional impacts followed:

• Decline in shinny and public skating
• Fewer low-pressure entry points for new players
• Shift toward competition over recreation
• Longer ice-plant operating seasons and higher facility costs
• Underutilization of natural ice
• Increased travel and rising family expenses

These outcomes were not driven by poor intent. They were the result of decisions made in isolation, without a full system lens.

This reinforces a fundamental truth:

Every decision in hockey creates ripple effects across the system.

Fiduciary Duty: The Responsibility Beneath Every Role

When individuals serve in leadership roles at any level, they assume a fiduciary duty to act:

• In good faith
• With care and diligence
• In the best interests of the organization and those it serves
• Free from personal or local advantage

Understanding fiduciary responsibility is essential to restoring trust, consistency, and defensible decision-making.

Why Hockey Manitoba Board Must Change From Management to Governance

When hockey is viewed as an interconnected system, several truths become clear:

• Governance matters because complexity demands clarity
• Strategy matters because reaction creates instability
• Alignment matters because families experience one system
• Support matters because volunteers cannot carry this burden alone

The Hockey Manitoba Board of Directors and our entire Operational Staff understand and agree that unclear roles, inconsistent support, and reactive structures have contributed to many of the challenges outlined in this document.

This recognition is why Hockey Manitoba is committed to governance change.

Hockey Manitoba recognizes that a Governance Board model must:

• Clearly define roles and responsibilities at every level
• Improve accountability and transparency
• Ensure consistent, accessible support for associations, leagues, and regions
• Enable data-informed, system-wide and strategic decision-making

This is not about control.
It is about stewardship.

It is about building a structure that supports volunteers, serves families, and sustains the game for the long term.

Purpose Statement

Hockey Manitoba exists to provide positive, meaningful hockey experiences that help shape young people with confidence, teamwork, resilience, and a strong work ethic—now and into the future.

Hockey Manitoba is committed to a transparent, thoughtful, and inclusive approach as we continue to evolve our governance structure. Sharing the Governance Model & Transition Plan as a Consultative Working Draft is an important part of that commitment.

This page outlines how members can provide feedback, what types of feedback are most helpful, and how that feedback will be used as the process moves forward.

Purpose of the Consultation
The purpose of this consultation period is to:

• Give members adequate time to review and understand the proposed governance model
• Encourage informed discussion within associations, leagues, and regions
• Identify areas that may benefit from clarification, refinement, or further explanation
• Ensure there are no surprises prior to any formal decision-making

Feedback received during this phase will help inform continued Board discussion and refinement ahead of any proposed member vote.

Who Can Provide Feedback
Feedback is welcome from:

• Member Associations
• Regions
• Leagues and Councils
• Volunteers and officials in leadership roles

Members are encouraged to discuss the Working Draft internally within their organizations before submitting consolidated feedback where possible.

How to Submit Feedback

1 - Written Feedback (Preferred Method)

Members may submit written feedback by email to: governance@hockeymanitoba.ca

When submitting feedback, please include:

• Your name
• Organization or role (association, league, region, etc.)
• The section(s) of the Working Draft you are referencing
• Specific comments, questions, or suggested areas for clarification

Clear, focused feedback helps ensure it can be properly reviewed and considered.

What Type of Feedback Is Most Helpful
The Board welcomes feedback that focuses on:

• Clarity: What is clear and what needs further explanation
• Understanding: Where additional context would be helpful
• Practical considerations: Transition timing, communication needs, or implementation concerns
• Governance principles: Alignment with accountability, transparency, and effectiveness

Feedback that is specific, constructive, and tied to the Working Draft will be most valuable.

What This Consultation Is — and Is Not
This Consultation Is:

• An opportunity to review and understand the Working Draft
• A chance to raise questions or concerns early
• A way to help improve clarity and readiness
• Part of a longer, deliberate governance process

This Consultation Is Not:

• A formal vote
• A referendum on final bylaws
• A debate on operational matters unrelated to governance
• A replacement for the formal member approval process

Any final governance changes will require formal member approval at the appropriate Annual General Meeting.

How Feedback Will Be Used
Feedback received during the consultation period will:

• Be reviewed by Hockey Manitoba staff and the Board
• Help identify common themes, concerns, or areas requiring clarification
• Inform further refinement of the governance model and transition plan
• Support the development of FAQs, education materials, and future communications

Individual responses may not receive individual replies; however, common questions and themes will be addressed through follow-up communications where appropriate.

Consultation Timeline

• Working Draft Released: December 2025
• Consultation & Review Period: December 2025 – Spring 2026
• Ongoing Communication & Clarification: Winter / Spring 2026
• Potential Member Vote: May 2026 AGM

This timeline is designed to ensure members have sufficient time to review, discuss, and engage before any decisions are considered.

In Closing
Governance evolution is a significant undertaking, and Hockey Manitoba values the role members play in shaping the organization’s future. Thoughtful engagement during this consultation period will help ensure the final outcome is well understood, well supported, and positioned for long-term success.

Thank you for taking the time to review the Working Draft and participate in this process.

Hockey Manitoba Governance Review Report (Final) - February 2025

Hockey Manitoba Future Vision of Hockey Report -  May 2025

Hockey Manitoba Semi-Annual Meeting Governance Education Session (January 17, 2025)

Hockey Manitoba Semi-Annual Meeting Governance Workshop (January 18, 2025)

Governance Review Town Hall (April 10, 2025)

Hockey Manitoba Annual General Meeting Governance Review Update Session (May 2, 2025)

Hockey Manitoba Annual General Meeting Future Vision of Hockey in Manitoba Workshop (May 3, 2025)