Women’s Para hockey continues to fight for inclusion in Paralympics

The 2026 Paralympics Games in Milano-Cortina are just more than 100 days away and the excitement is palpable. Thousands of talented and hopeful Para athletes will take to the world’s stage to compete, proudly representing their countries.

This country boasts an incredibly talented roster on Team Canada — from wheelchair curling to Para nordic skiing and the athletes are expected to medal in many of the 79 events. 

But there is one event that won’t be represented by Canadian athletes: women’s Para hockey (WPH). 

Although Canada has an immense amount of talent in Para hockey, the women’s game is still not part of the events in the Paralympics program. The Canadian WPH website has an explainer video of the players getting ready and stating: “When we hit the ice, we don’t just play hockey. We are breaking barriers and pushing boundaries, and proving that women belong in every corner of sport.” 

But while this team remains dedicated and ambitious, it is missing from the greatest theatre of Para sport in the world, and to complicate matters, is not being fully funded by Hockey Canada, the sport’s governing body Canada.

It begs the question: why is women’s Para hockey being iced out?

This past August, Slovakia played host to the first women’s world Para hockey championships. Every game was sold out and the event was well-executed. The tournament included five national teams: Australia, Canada, USA, Great Britain and Norway. A sixth team called “Team World” was made up of players from seven different countries in Europe, plus Japan and South Korea.

DiClaudio leads U.S. to gold medal victory over Canada in Para Ice Hockey Worlds

Canada lost in the final, 7-1, to a strong American team. I spoke with Canadian head coach Tara