Geoff Russ: Multiculturalism is a terrible reason to drop hockey for soccer

Members of the Canadian women's hockey team celebrate following a dominant run to the gold medal at the 2006 Winter Games in Turin, Italy. Photo by Gerry Kahrmann /Province

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Canada is on the road to becoming just one more soccer country. Even if we don’t want that, the federal government seems intent on driving Canadian sports in that direction anyway.

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A recent survey from Abacus Data contained exciting news for those who think kicking a ball around denotes modernity and sophistication. Following Canada’s World Cup run, 56 per cent of adults now have some interest in the sport, up from 48 per cent two months ago.

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Soccer is also the favourite sport of 12 per cent of Canadians, second to hockey which is at 32 per cent. However, among 18 to 29 year olds, soccer is the most popular sport by a small margin of two percent, and the favourite of 28 per cent of those not born in Canada, as hockey languishes at 13 per cent.

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Already, Canada Soccer is bragging that soccer is the “sport of the future”; a new pastime for a new Canada and new Canadians, and many are nodding their heads.

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“Canada’s World Cup run includes a lot of new Canadians who don’t have a long connection to hockey, and demonstrates to us and the world how successful is Canadian multiculturalism, how historic ideas of what Canadians look like need to be updated,” wrote journalist Stephen Maher on X.

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Surely, Canadians should be very proud of the national team’s performance in the World Cup. They thrilled audiences on home soil, earning our first World Cup win and first place in the round of 16, as people in Canada packed the streets to celebrate.

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Still, it would be terrible if the rise of Canadian soccer comes as a package deal with the decline of hockey, as if basic competence in the one sport means forgetting the sport that Canadians excel in and can truly call their own. This is neither an inevitable nor admirable trade, but governments and institutions can ram that rotten deal through if they wish.

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Officially, hockey is Canada’s national winter sport, but had been the national game for generations before it became a Parliamentary statue in 1994. Whether on ponds, backyards, or summer streets, Canadians across the country still play the game, imagining themselves as players for the Montreal Canadiens or Toronto Maple Leafs.

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But, youth participation in hockey is well below its peak in the late 2000s, as the cost of equipment and travel are simply too steep for many families. Soccer is a natural alternative for parents seeking to keep their children in sports, as it only requires a ball, an unfrozen surface and objects to serve as a net.

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Last week, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced the “largest-ever” investment into sport promising upgrades for stadiums, fields, and parks, with the goal of helping more Canadians move from local playgrounds to the national soccer team. It also includes a pledge to fund a Canada Soccer National Training Centre.

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Having the national government fund sports is perfectly normal, but it is outrageous if none of this $1 billion investment ends up going towards hockey. A dollar spent on an indoor soccer field is a dollar not spent on maintaining a rink in a small town that otherwise cannot afford repairs.