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In a letter last week to Quebec Labour Minister Dominique Vien, 12 former players led by retired NHL stars Joé Juneau and Marc Savard accuse the government of depriving the young players of “fundamental social protections” by excluding them from labour standards.

The standards cover such things as minimum wage, working hours, days off and protection against psychological harassment.

QMJHL players, aged 16 to 20, are under contract to play full-time for teams in Quebec and the Maritimes that operate as private businesses. In exchange, teams provide room and board and pay them a weekly allowance of $60; if they do not go on to play professional hockey, they are eligible for an education grant covering tuition up to $6,000 a year.

With travelling taken in to account, the players can end up devoting more than 60 hours a week to hockey, leaving little time for school, critics say.

“For years, they put aside their studies in hopes of reaching the National Hockey League,” the letter to Vien says. “They benefit from no social protection and no guarantee concerning the promises made. For those who will not achieve their dream (of playing in the NHL), that is 98 per cent of them, it is a rude awakening. They find themselves without a job, and more often than not, without a degree.”

The push to declare that junior hockey players are not employees comes as Canada’s three major junior leagues – the QMJHL, the Ontario Hockey League and the Western Hockey League – face class action lawsuits. The suits, which were launched in 2014 and are still before the courts, seek retroactive pay for former players and recognition of employee status for current players.