“I feel more Canadian with hockey.” Identity and Belonging via Ice Hockey in a Diverse Canada

Abstract

This paper explores the relationship between the participation in organized ice hockey by immigrants and racialized minorities (compared to those born in Canada and who are white) and their sense of national identity and sense of belonging to Canada. A Bourdieusian theoretical framework is utilized to conceptualize hockey in terms of a field, habitus, and cultural and symbolic capital. The argument is made that hockey is Janus-faced and a contested terrain with a tension between exclusion and inclusion whereby human agency is vitally important. Yet the hockey arena and engagement in the game, either as players or fans or in some other capacity, provides a multicultural common space potentially enabling an interactive pluralism amongst diverse communities. The data are derived from qualitative semi-structured interviews with hockey players, fans and key informants in Calgary and Toronto. Overall, the findings show that for most immigrants and racialized minorities engaged in organized ice hockey, there is more likely a sense of Canadian national identity and a sense of belonging to Canada compared to the Canadian-born and to whites. These findings further add to the value of making hockey more inclusive via equity, diversity and inclusion policies and initiatives.