'It was time': Canada set for long-awaited women's Para hockey world championships

Christina Picton remembers arriving at the 2022 Paralympics with a mix of joy and heartache as she took it all in.

A veteran of the Canadian women's Para hockey team, Picton had always imagined lining up alongside her teammates at the Winter Games. Instead, she made it to Beijing as a nordic skier, because women's Para hockey remained absent from the Paralympic program.

"A very bittersweet experience," said Picton, who added skiing to her high-performance resume during the pandemic. "I'd always dreamed of being there, but I dreamt of being there with my women's hockey team.

"An emotional experience rolling up to the Games on that first day and being with really great teammates and surrounded by really lovely people, don't get me wrong, but I always wanted to be there with women's hockey."

This week marks a pivotal milestone toward achieving that dream.

WATCH | Canada prepares for first-ever women's Para hockey worlds in Slovakia:

History is being made this week in Para women's hockey

Picton and her Canadian teammates are set to compete in the inaugural Para Ice Hockey Women's World Championships in Dolny Kubin, Slovakia — a landmark moment on the road to making women's Para hockey a Paralympic sport by 2030.

The tournament runs from Tuesday through Sunday and features six teams: Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia, Norway and a Team World made up of players from nine countries. Canada opens round-robin play Tuesday against Team World.

Tara Chisholm, Canada's head coach since 2013, says it's impossible to underestimate the event's significance.

"We're not just building our team and program, we're helping to build the history of the women's game," she said. "These [games] are going to be marked down forever