Rule change will allow out-of-province minor to play Junior A

Younger players under the age of 18 can now be recruited and play for Junior A teams from outside their home province. 

With the junior hockey landscape changing dramatically within the past two years, Hockey Canada’s guidelines of creating more flexibility and mobility for teams saw new tweaks on Thursday. 

It’s called Phase two of the Western Canadian Development Model, with an added emphasis on roster composition, says Hockey Canada. 

Five changes are listed in the WCDM’s edict, the most impactful of which will allow teams to roster one player under the age of 18 from outside their home province, but only if that player has been drafted, listed, or signed by a WHL team. 

Before this, an Alberta-born 16-year-old and 17-year-old hockey player had to stay in Alberta if they were going to play Junior A, for example. These were stipulations that Western Hockey League teams didn’t have to abide by. 

This permission has also been granted for American-born players. However, teams can only register up to five US-born players today, down from six, in this recent move. 

Out-of-province players playing with academy teams in the CSSHL (Canadian Sport School Hockey League), can affiliate with western Junior A teams, as long as that team is in the same province as the academy team. 

The other change is that no more than eight players born in a province not participating in the WCDM may be registered on the active roster of a Western Junior A team.

Landscape greatly changed

The first year of Hockey Canada’s increased involvement on Junior A, saw many more players with Western Hockey League experience play or affiliate in the Alberta Junior Hockey League in 2024-25, but with many fewer NCAA Division I commitments. 

The fracture of the BCHL from Hockey Canada in 2023 was the first major change, followed by the exit of five Alberta-based teams midway through the 2023-24 season, prompting changes by the governing powers. 

Phase one of the WCDM pilot project, launched July 2024, talks about the four key pillars of how Major Junior and Junior A that target player advancements to the next level, how rosters are composed, streamlining rules between the leagues, and aligning team’s messaging. 

What followed south of the border, a US Supreme Court ruling that no longer prohibited Major Junior hockey players from playing in the NCAA, saw a large volume of player movement during last season. 

This includes the most prized prospect in all of junior hockey – Gavin McKenna.

The 2007-born product led the Medicine Hat Tigers to the Memorial Cup, and is unanimously viewed as the first overall choice in the 2026 NHL draft. 

It is anticipated by many that McKenna will be joining a NCAA school soon, something that wouldn’t have been possible without Supreme Court changes months ago.