New York and Toronto – the IIHF, the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) and the global ladies’ hockey community have come together to re -shape the international calendar, in which they join a shared vision of growing women’s game and strengthening the opportunities for players at every level.
As part of this collaboration, the IIHF World Championship Ladies is moving to a new time slot in November, prior to the PWHL season. The revised tournament calendar ensures that there will be no collision with the final phase of the PWHL campaign. It also makes a complete world championship program in Olympic seasons possible.
In addition, a new European women’s championship will start in April 2027, creating more opportunities for international elite competitions, which guarantees the development of female players throughout the season and the visibility of women’s hockey throughout Europe is increased.
“This was a complex situation to solve and we have reached a milestone for women’s hockey,” said IIHF chairman Luc Tardif. “The Women’s World Championship is an important event for the growth of the game worldwide. In collaboration with the PWHL, we have developed a calendar that retains the integrity of the international competition and at the same time avoids significant interruptions of the competition season. This solution ensures that the PWHL players get the chance to represent their country.”
Best-on-best tournaments at the world and Olympic level are crucial to increase the fandom for women’s hockey at all levels, and the possibility for European countries to organize top quality events provides more visibility and inspiration for the women’s hockey community.
“All parties were of the opinion that the success of the Women’s World Championship is essential for the growth of women’s hockey worldwide,” said Ashley Ehlert, deputy director-general of IIHF. “We, the affiliated national associations, and the PWHL want to ensure that we have a successful and visible world championship.
“We also want to ensure that we have the very best players at the World Ladies World Cup.”
“This collaboration marks an important step forward for our sport,” said Jayna Hefford, PWHL Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations. “By working together with the IIHF and our partners worldwide, we do what is best to grow ladies hockey, by drawing up a calendar with which every large event can achieve its full potential. The introduction of the European Women’s Championship is again a meaningful progress for the international growth of the game. This uniform approach is a victory for the players.”
The highest division of the Ladies 2026 world championship will play in Denmark from 6 to 16 November. Herning, which organized the Gentlemen World Championship last year, will be one of the guest cities, and a second location must be determined. The lower divisions of the ladies still play as planned in April 2026, but move from 2027 to November.
From now on until 2032 there is a list of expected guest countries for the IIHF World Championship. After Denmark is host country in November 2026, Canada will organize the first of his three championships in Quebec City in November 2027. The Canadians will also organize the tournament in 2030 and 2032. The WC ladies is planned for Switzerland in November 2028, Sweden in 2029 and Finland in 2031.
The new European championship, which will start in April 2027, will offer extra hosting options, while discussions about the tournament format and the number of competing countries continue.
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