Quebec City to host women's world hockey championship in 2027, world juniors in 2029

Quebec 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.

"We are thrilled that our national women's team and our national junior team will be competing for medals on home soil in front of passionate crowds, and we look forward to welcoming hockey fans to Quebec in 2027 and 2029," Hockey Canada president and CEO Katherine Henderson said in a statement.

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.

Beyond sports, the tournaments are expected to be economically beneficial for the host communities, according to Gestev, the events' planner and promoter.

Gestev president Martin Tremblay said both championships combined are expected to draw around 440,000 tourists and bring in an estimated $60 million.

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 host of the 2026 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.