PEI·NewA group of parents in Charlottetown is concerned that an increase in fees to play minor hockey in the city will put some kids’ dreams of playing the game on ice. Some team costs more than double what they were last seasonStephen Brun · CBC News · Posted: Oct 13, 2025 7:10 PM EDT | Last Updated: 20 minutes agoWhen the Greater Charlottetown Minor Hockey Association set its team and registration fee structure for 2025-26, it left some parents with concerns over the increased cost compared with last season. (Laura Meader/CBC)A group of parents in Charlottetown is concerned that an increase in fees to play minor hockey in the city will put some kids’ dreams of playing the game on ice. The Greater Charlottetown Minor Hockey Association formed earlier this year in a merger between the Charlottetown and Sherwood leagues. When the association set its team and registration fee structure for 2025-26, it left some parents shocked at the increase in cost over last season. Andrew Wood, whose son Emery plays recreational under-18 hockey under the newly formed Islanders banner, said he’ll be paying about 50 per cent more in fees this year. Andrew Wood, right, says team fees for his son Emery’s U18 rec hockey squad more than doubled over last season. (Laura Meader/CBC)“To me, it’s kind of shocking. Nobody seems to have any answers or rationale behind why such a substantial increase in one year,” he said. “I worry about driving kids out of the game, making it financially strained on so many families that you just can’t afford to play a sport that I think is great.” According to the Greater Charlottetown Minor Hockey Association’s website, team fees for the regular season help cover things like ice time at rinks, referee costs, insurance for players and staff, and some equipment. The team fee is divided among the number of kids on the roster. It doesn’t include the cost of playing in tournaments throughout the year or player registration. Wood said the team fee for Emery’s team last year was $1,600. This year, it’s $4,000. ‘It belongs to the people’Jill Jenkins has five boys who play hockey in the association, and said she’s never seen such a significant increase in costs from one year to the next. ‘We are the ones that pay for all of these things, and it’s not fair. It’s just not fair,’ says Jill Jenkins, whose five boys — including Mat, left, and Nick — all play minor hockey in Charlottetown. (Submitted by Jill Jenkins)She said the association could have done a better job of communicating what the fees would be well before the season began. “Probably had some parents known in advance, they may have chosen not to register their children,” Jenkins said. “I don’t believe that that’s something that we should be quiet about. It is our club. It doesn’t belong to the board, it belongs to the people.” The Greater Charlottetown Minor Hockey Association is a non-profit organization that’s run by a volunteer board of directors. Its president, Keith Ford, told CBC News that fees did not completely cover operational costs in past years. “It kind of caught up to us, so the [new] fees are more relative to what it actually costs the association,” he said. “It’s covering the cost of what it is to operate that team at that level for the year.” Ford said ice time is the biggest expense for the association, with the rising cost of equipment not far behind. Keith Ford, president of the Greater Charlottetown Minor Hockey Association, says increased costs for things like ice rentals and purchasing equipment left the organization no choice but to up its fees. (Kirk Pennell/CBC)“We’re a volunteer board. We don’t make money off this,” he said. “We probably put more time into this than we do our actual jobs.… We’re doing the best we can to provide hockey for the kids of the Charlottetown area.” As far as the parents are concerned, they’d like to see more transparency from the association about what its costs are — and where their money is going. “We are the ones that pay for all of these things, and it’s not fair. It’s just not fair,” Jenkins said. “I don’t think we should be passing any money over until this is reconsidered.”ABOUT THE AUTHORStephen Brun is the copy editor for digital news at CBC Prince Edward Island. A graduate of UPEI and Holland College, he has been a writer and editor for a number of newspapers and websites across Canada for nearly two decades. You can reach him at stephen.brun@cbc.ca.With files from Laura Meader
Parents in Charlottetown frustrated over ‘shocking’ increase in minor hockey fees
