Fourteen people have been killed when a bus carrying a group of Canadian junior hockey players collided with a truck on a rural highway in Saskatchewan, police have confirmed.

Fifteen more people were injured, including three critically, in the incident involving the Humboldt Broncos team bus - which was heading north for a Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League playoff game against the Nipawin Hawks, the Saskatooon Star Phoenix reported.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police inspector Ted Monroe said at a news conference late last night that there were "fatalities among the passengers on the bus" and "a number of serious injuries".

"It is a significant accident, we had a tractor trailer and a bus collide," Insp Monroe told reporters, declining to go into further detail about the victims.

Police said the crash took place about 28kms north of Tisdale, Saskatchewan as the bus was travelling on highway 35.

Local media reported the Bronco's head coach and captain were among those killed. 

Many social media users posted photographs of the team alongside messages of shock and sympathy, and the hashtags #prayersforhumboldt and #humboldtstrong.

We need your consent to load this rte-player contentWe use rte-player to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review their details and accept them to load the content.Manage Preferences

"This is much bigger than anyone can begin to imagine," Broncos team president Kevin Garinger told the Canadian broadcaster CBC. "We are just in utter disbelief and shock at the loss that's fallen upon us."

A statement from Mr Garinger was published on the club's website.

It said: "Our thoughts and prayers are extended to the families of our staff and athletes as well as to all who have been impacted by this horrible tragedy. Our Broncos family is in shock as we try to come to grips with our incredible loss."

The Broncos team is comprised of 24 players, all from Canada, with the youngest aged 16 and the oldest 21.

"It's a horrible accident, my God," said Darren Opp, president of the Nipawin Hawks hockey team. "It's very, very bad."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau expressed his sadness at the tragic incident involving such young athletes.

"I cannot imagine what these parents are going through, and my heart goes out to everyone affected by this terrible tragedy, in the Humboldt community and beyond," Mr Trudeau wrote on Twitter.

The Saskatchewan league is a feeder system for higher levels of hockey with many graduating to play at US and Canadian colleges and major junior league level, while some go on to the National Hockey League.