The excitement was palpable in Quebec City on Thursday as Hockey Canada announced the city will host the 2027 women’s world hockey championship and co-host the 2029 world junior hockey championship.
The nearby city of Trois-Rivières, Que., will share the world juniors hosting duties with the Quebec capital for the annual holiday-season tournament.
The women’s worlds, meanwhile, will be held exclusively in Quebec City with most games played at the 18,000-seat Videotron Centre.
“Hosting international events on behalf of the IHFF is a tremendous privilege and not one that we take for granted,” said Hockey Canada president and CEO Katherine Henderson during a news conference at the Videotron Centre.
“We know that the fan support in Quebec will be incredible for both tournaments.”
It will mark the first time Quebec City hosts the women’s world championship. The event was last held in Canada in 2023 in Brampton, Ont.
“Hockey is our national sport and a great source of pride for Quebec, and we are proud to have the opportunity to host these two major world championships,” said Isabelle Charest, the provincial minister responsible for sport, recreation and the outdoors.
Championships expected to generate $60M
But beyond sports, the tournaments are expected to be economically beneficial for the host communities, according to event planner and promoter Gestev.
Gestev president Martin Tremblay said both championships combined are expected to draw around 440,000 tourists and bring in an estimated $60 million.
“It’s major,” said Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand. The economic impact and the visibility from the tournaments will put the city “back on the map,” he said.
Even though Marchand said he was “all in” from the get-go, getting the project off the ground took longer than he expected.
“Financing is complicated, rallying different levels of government, different partners is complicated,” he said, “but we managed it.”
The province and both Quebec City and Trois-Rivières chipped in more than $10 million to help bring the tournaments to Quebec, but Tremblay says all funding was obtained through existing government programs.
The last major IHFF tournament that was held in Quebec City was in 2008, when the city co-hosted the men’s world championship with Halifax.
Even though people in Quebec City are still talking about that tournament, Marchand said he believes the upcoming championships will be even bigger.
“Women’s hockey is very popular, growing year by year, so the 2027 tournament will come at a good time,” he said.
Quebec City an ‘obvious place to go’
Henderson, Hockey Canada’s president, also pointed to the growth of women’s hockey in the province, saying Quebec City was an “obvious place to go in order to bring hockey to the fans and compel participation” in the sport.
“Women’s hockey, as well as men’s junior hockey, has different and big audiences,” she said.
The announcement is already having an impact in the trenches.
Players with the Titans, a collegiate level women’s ice hockey team in Quebec City, told Radio-Canada they were excited to have the best female players come to play at home.
They said it was “inspiring” not only to them, many of whom are working toward earning a spot on the senior national team, but also for the younger girls who might come and watch a game.
The host of the 2026 women’s world championship tournament is expected to be announced at the Oct. 3-4 IIHF semi-annual congress.
Quebec City last held the world juniors in 1978, when it co-hosted with Montreal.
The 2026 tournament will be held in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minn., and the 2027 edition will take place in Alberta — host cities have not been named — before the event moves to Finland in 2028.
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