Wheelchair user says ‘discriminatory’ Habs policy forced him to beg for tickets

With the Habs falling just shy of reaching the Stanley Cup final last spring, Joey Racanelli, like most fans, couldn’t wait to buy tickets for the upcoming season. 

But when single-game tickets went on sale in early September, his excitement was short-lived.

As a wheelchair user, he buys tickets in the Bell Centre’s accessible seating section. He typically goes to four or five games a season. But without warning, he says the Canadiens quietly changed their policy on reduced mobility seats, limiting him to one match for the entire season.

“I don’t think it’s their goal,” he added, “but it certainly feels discriminatory.”

Unlike other customers who can purchase tickets online, customers who want reduced mobility seating don’t have that option. They have to call or go in person to the Bell Centre ticket office. 

Racanelli described the experience on the phone with the agent as he tried to get to the bottom of why his access was being restricted as embarrassing: “I basically had to beg for more tickets and I still couldn’t get them.”

Steven Laperrière, the general manager of the disability advocacy group Regroupement des activistes pour l’inclusion au Québec (RAPLIQ), says setting different limits to the number of tickets a disabled person can buy could amount to a violation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

“You cannot discriminate against persons because of their handicap, you cannot do that.” Laperrière said. 

He also takes issue with the policy at large. “Why would a person be only allowed to have only one game per season? We’re in a free country, right?” 

CBC confirmed through several other Habs fans who use wheelchairs that Racanelli’s experience was not isolated.

Quebec wheelchair user says new ticket policy at Habs home games feels ‘discriminatory’

At the time, Racanelli asked the ticket agent why the policy had changed.

“It felt like [they thought] I was trying to abuse the system, which obviously I was not. I was just trying to get my tickets,” said Racanelli.

Laperrière says he understands it can be challenging for event managers to make sure the accessible seats are being used properly. 

At the Bell Centre, Habs tickets in the reduced mobility section come at a much lower price than the other seats around them, which could tempt people to try and game the system. 

“There will still be abuse, for sure. But why do people with disabilities have to pay the price and be limited in their ability to go see the Habs games because you can’t manage that properly?” he asks. 

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People with invisible disabilities like deafness, low vision or intellectual disabilities also have the right to use the accessible and reduced mobility section. 

“I get it, it can be tough and you cannot prevent everything,” Laperrière says, “but no constraints is worth limiting the freedom of people with disabilities.” 

CBC’s investigation found no evidence that the ticket policy change was disclosed publicly or communicated in any way to longtime users of the accessible and reduced mobility section at the Bell Centre prior to them calling to reserve tickets.

Laperrière says regardless of why the team changed their policy, the lack of communication with users is inexcusable. 

“[Groupe CH] is a big corporation, they do business everywhere. They should know better. And to me, that they’re not putting it online is a lack of transparency, and I think we can understand why.”  

Laperrière also phoned the ticket office himself to ask for clarification on the policy, which he recorded. He shared that conversation and a recording from another wheelchair user with CBC. In it, the ticket agent confirms they can only buy tickets for one match per season.

Racanelli says in addition to asking for answers on the phone, he emailed Groupe CH and reached out to the Montreal Canadiens on social media regarding the ticketing policy changes. He did not receive a response. 

The Montreal Canadiens and Groupe CH declined to be interviewed for this story.

In a statement, the club says that due to high demand, purchases were limited to one game per person, but added that the policy applied to all fans, not just those with reduced mobility. 

It added that the policy was only in effect for a limited time, and now that the initial sales period is over, single-game tickets can be purchased — subject to availability.

However, even if the policy was applied to all fans during the limited period, the number of tickets available per client appeared to differ. 

When single-game tickets came on sale in early September, customers buying through Ticketmaster were limited to four seats per purchase.

Ticket system for accessible seats fails disabled fans, wheelchair user says | Go Public

Users of the reduced mobility section were only allowed to purchase the equivalent of two tickets — one for themselves and one for the person accompanying them. 

For years, customers who wanted reduced mobility seating had to call or go in person to the ticketing office. That briefly changed last season, when the team moved everything to Ticketmaster. But it reverted to the old system this year.  

CBC asked Groupe CH why it moved away from online sales after one year, and if or how it communicated the policy to customers in advance, but it did not provide an answer. 

Racanelli says his frustration over the situation grew when he went online and saw other fans on social media talking about all the tickets they acquired to multiple games this season. 

Based on his experience, there were no guardrails preventing others from buying tickets to multiple games online. 

Racanelli was surprised to learn the one-ticket policy was temporary because at no point did the ticketing agent explain that to him when he asked for details. CBC can confirm that others who inquired were also not told the policy was meant to be temporary.  

Despite what wheelchair users were told on the phone, Groupe CH said in its statement “no limits have been placed on the number of games a person with reduced mobility may attend during the season.”

How users access the reduced mobility section at other Canadian NHL cities varies. 

In Ottawa, Toronto and Winnipeg, wheelchair users can buy their tickets online through Ticketmaster.

Spaces in NHL arenas are limited. According to the Montreal Canadiens website, there are only 58 wheelchair-accessible seats available per game at the Bell Centre.

The Ottawa Senators say the Canadian Tire Centre has 140 accessible seats available.

Winnipeg has accessible spaces across 11 sections in the Canada Life Centre for Jets games, but it’s unclear how many seats are available per game. 

The Toronto Maple Leafs say it is against company policy to disclose how many seats it offers wheelchair users each game at Scotiabank Arena. 

The Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers and Vancouver Canucks did not respond to CBC’s request for information concerning how access to the accessible and reduced mobility section operates in their arenas. 

Racanelli says he understands there are significant challenges in managing the access to reduced-mobility sections at the Bell Centre.

He adds that his experiences at the arena and with the staff are always first-class, but the ticket process has been so challenging this year that he’s questioning going back.