unfortunately it's not financially possible in a lot of places to play junior hockey without a charge..take for example in New York City metro where teams are paying upwards of $500+/hr for ice time. There aren't rinks everywhere, it's just not Canada.
If you're comparing the talent level of Tier III Jr A to Canadian Jr C you don't know what you're talking about. PAL Jr Islanders of the USPHL (Tier III) went to a GOJHL showcase last year and outscored 3 opponents by a combined score of 29-1. The same league's Jersey Hitmen hosted CCHL's Nepean (Canadian Junior A) early last season and beat them in both games, I think one game was 2-1 and one was 5-1 or something like that. There are some definite issues with the classification, since some of the Tier III Jr A leagues are much weaker than others, but to compare the talent to Canadian Jr C? You have no clue