Hockey Canada hires Katherine Henderson as new president, CEO

Hockey Canada has hired Katherine Henderson as president and chief executive officer, the national governing body said on Tuesday after a scandal-filled year in which the organization faced scrutiny over its handling of sexual assault allegations.

Henderson, who has spent the past seven years as the chief executive of Curling Canada, will begin her role on Sept. 4.

“Katherine has the track record and experience to lead the ongoing transformation of Hockey Canada,” Hugh L. Fraser, chair of the Hockey Canada board of directors, said in a news release.

“With her at the helm we are confident that we will continue to take the steps necessary to ensure hockey is a safe and inclusive sport and that Hockey Canada benefits from best-in-class governance.”

At Curling Canada, Henderson successfully led initiatives to introduce new Canadians to the sport, spearheaded pay equity for men’s and women’s curling teams, and led a financial turnaround of the organization’s business model.

Henderson replaces Scott Smith, who resigned last October when all of the governing body’s board members also said they had agreed to step down amid the scandal.

Hockey Canada came under fire in May 2022 when news broke of an alleged group sexual assault involving members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team and subsequent out-of-court settlement.

The allegations against the unnamed players have not been proved in court but the Canadian federal government did freeze funding to the national governing body over its handling of the alleged sexual assault.

The Canadian government restored funding earlier this year after Hockey Canada met the necessary conditions.

To have its funding restored, Hockey Canada needed to become a full signatory to Abuse-Free Sport, implement recommendations from an independent governance review and commit to frequent updates to the federal government.