Recertification

NEW for the 2025-26 season, recertification within the Hockey Canada Officiating Program (HCOP) will now be delivered via a 2-phase / 3-step hybrid educational model. All officials recertifying from the previous season or officials with previous HCOP experience will now receive their recertification upon completion of the PHASE ONE pre-requisite CRC screening & Online recertification course; and PHASE TWO in-person clinic.

Overall, these two (2) phases provide a combined five (5) hours of instructional time, which is consistent with previous seasons. However, officials are now able to complete approximately half of the annual curriculum within the Hockey Canada virtual Learning Lab at a self-led pace in advance of the season. This will be increasingly beneficial in future seasons as new rules and procedures are updated and officials can be informed of these important annual updates before the season gets underway. Below are further details about the two (2) phases of recertification:

PHASE ONE - STEP 1: Criminal Records Check (CRC)

All officials 18 years or older as of December 31 are required to complete a Criminal Record Check (CRC), prior to registering for any in-person certification clinic (PHASE TWO). CRCs continue to be valid for three (3) seasons and BC Hockey provides notifications to all officials that have CRCs that have expired since the conclusion of the previous season and all officials that were 17 years of age during the previous season and now require a CRC for the first time. To check your CRC status please log into your SPORDLE account. To submit a new CRC request please follow the instructions HERE. Officials that will be under 18 years old as of December 31 can bypass Step 1 and proceed to Step 2 ‘Online HCOP Re-certification Course’ (below).

PHASE ONE – STEP 2: ONLINE HCOP RECERTIFICATION COURSE

All recertifying officials are required to complete the new annual online pre-requisite course that is applicable to their level of certification for the coming season (e.g. Level 1, Level 2, Level 3, MHP or NHP), prior to registering for the in-person recertification clinic.

NOTE 1: This new online course consists of four (4) modules and an examination. This course is estimated to take approximately 2.5 hours to complete. Completion of the online course does NOT provide certification. However, it prequalifies officials to register for recertification, which is completed during the in-person clinic during PHASE TWO (below).

NOTE 2: All officials that are not otherwise registered with Hockey Canada for the current season as a player or team officials (e.g. bench staff) are required to purchase the Participant Assessment Fee. This fee can be added on during the check-out process when an official registers for the online course PHASE ONE – STEP 2. Should an official forget to purchase this fee, they can do so by way of a separate transaction HERE. If you have accidentally paid for the Participant Assessment fee and are registered as a player or team official or paid it twice as an official please contact the BC Hockey office for assistance.

PHASE TWO: IN-PERSON RECERTIFICATION CLINIC

Upon meeting the two (2) pre-requisites outlined in PHASE ONE, officials are eligible to register for a BC Hockey hosted in-person recertification clinic. Upon attendance and completion of the in-person clinic an official’s certification will be valid until December 31 of the following season. It is important to remember that an official’s certification from the previous season is still valid until December 31 of the current calendar year to allow for the annual recertification process to be completed.