With just over 100 days left until the Milan-Cortina 2026 Paralympic Games, the excitement is palpable. Thousands of talented and up-and-coming Paralympians will take to the world stage to compete, proudly representing their countries.
This country boasts an incredibly talented Team Canada roster. wheelchair curling to Paralympic skiing, and athletes are expected to win medals in many of the 79 events.
But there is one competition that Canadian athletes will not represent: Women's Paralympic Hockey (VPH).
Although Canada has a wealth of Paralympic hockey talent, the women's game is still not included in the Paralympic Games program. The Canadian WPH website features an explanatory video of players preparing and declaring, “When we take the ice, we don't just play hockey. We break barriers and push boundaries, and prove that women belong in every aspect of the sport.”
But while this team remains dedicated and ambitious, it is absent from the greatest theater of Paralympic sport in the world, and, to complicate matters further, is not fully funded by Hockey Canada, the sport's governing body in Canada.
The question arises: why is women's Paralympic hockey being closed?
In August this year, Slovakia hosted the first Women's Para Hockey World Championship. All games were sold out and the event was well run. Five national teams took part in the tournament: Australia, Canada, USA, Great Britain and Norway. The sixth team, called “Team World”, consisted of players from seven different countries in Europe, as well as Japan and South Korea.
Kelsey DiClaudio scored four goals to lead the Americans to a 7-1 victory over Canada in the inaugural Women's Paralympic Ice Hockey World Championship.
Canada lost to a strong team 7-1 in the final. American team. I spoke with Canadian head coach Tara Chisham after the World Championships about this experience and what this opportunity means for this team and for the sport of para hockey.
“What was most striking was how quickly people who had never seen Paralympic hockey before became true fans of not only the sport, but the athletes themselves,” Chisholm told me via email. “This was exactly what we hoped for: a moment where these women were recognized for the years of dedication, skill and effort they put into growing the game.”
Women's Paralympic hockey is not currently part of the Paralympic Games, but women's Paralympic hockey organizations are fighting for inclusion in the 2030 Paralympic Games in the French Alps. To be eligible, the women's division must play two sanctioned World Championships before 2027. With the success of this year's competition, they have met the first requirement and Chisholm said collective efforts are focused on delivering decisive follow-up action in 2026 to strengthen the path to Paralympic inclusion.
The current Paralympic hockey competition is a mixed event, so technically women can compete. No woman has ever been named to Canada's Paralympic team, although two players, WPH captain Christina Picton and Raphaëlle Tousignant, were named to the development team. Tousignant became the first Canadian woman to play against men when she competed at the 2023 Para Hockey World Championships in Moose Jaw, Sask.
CBC Sports caught up with Raphael Tousignant, teammate Tyler McGregor and head coach Russ Herrington ahead of the 2023 Para Hockey World Championships in Moose Jaw, Sask.
Last summer, Tousignant was one of Team Canada's assistant captains at the WPH Championships. She announced her intention to be part of Canada's historically men's-only Paralympic hockey team in Milan-Cortina, but last month the 23-year-old made a heartbreaking announcement about her diagnosis: breast cancer.
“Who knows how this will all unfold, but I will know that I tried until the very last second to make my dream come true,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
This news was not only devastating, but also unfair. I interviewed Tousignant before she revealed her diagnosis and asked her about Hockey Canada's funding problem.
“I can’t help but feel it’s unfair that we don’t have the same opportunities and support as men,” she said in an email. “I know that men have also had to fight for years to earn their place at the Games, and I truly respect that. I just want the women's game to get the recognition it deserves by now. That said, I am disappointed in the number of obstacles that have been put in our way – or even added along the way.”
Claire Buchanan, 38, played 11 seasons for Canada's WPH team and also volunteers on the boards and coaches young players.
Before the World Championships, Buchanan told me that sometimes the lack of funding from Hockey Canada feels like a “vicious cycle.” Buchanan said the men's Paralympic hockey team only received funding after its first Paralympic appearance. She acknowledged their sacrifice and their efforts.
So do women have to win a gold medal before they receive funding? But to get a gold medal, they will need funding to train and compete properly. As Buchanan explained, it's a vicious circle.
“We have a good relationship with Hockey Canada. We've collaborated on events and camps over the last two years and there's been such support in that regard,” she said. “But taking us completely under their wing and with all the support that comes with it, we are not there yet.”
Buchanan said the team doesn't spend much energy fighting why not because it doesn't really seem that difficult. Attending the WPH World Championship costs approximately $10,000 per player.
Buchanan works for CBC Sports and is a colleague. When she returned from Slovakia, she brought her silver medal to the office to show us.
I contacted Hockey Canada to find out. Why. Spencer Sharkey, Communications Manager for Hockey Canada, sent me the following response: “As a national sports organization, Hockey Canada's mandate from the federal government is to govern national teams that compete internationally for sanctioned world championships and compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, and we continue to work closely with World Para Hockey and the International Paralympic Committee as long as they are making progress towards including women's Paralympic hockey in the Paralympic Games program.”
Sharkey noted that Hockey Canada provided Team WPH with a $150,000 grant ahead of the WPH World Championships, as well as equipment and team equipment.
He confirmed that Hockey Canada “will continue to advocate for the development of women's para hockey in Canada and around the world.”
Women's Paralympic hockey often underfunded but also has allies who offer creative opportunities for cooperation.
There are times when sport rules and bureaucracy seem necessary. This is not the case. A talented team that is racially diverse, includes LGBTQ players, and represents many different regions of Canada seems like an ideal team to invest in. Fully funding the Canadian WPH could help them achieve inclusion in the next Paralympic Games. Isn't that what we all want?
“It’s our team’s time,” Chisholm said. “We have a young team of women who are working not only to get better, but to break the mold of what women can do in Paralympic hockey. They embody what it means to be proudly Canadian: hardworking, humble and relentless in the pursuit of something bigger than themselves.”
Canada has a legacy of greatness on the ice, but the time has passed to fully support women's Paralympic hockey. This may be one of the greatest assists in Canadian hockey history.
