Edmonton, Red Deer to host 2027 World Junior Championship

One of the most prestigious tournaments in hockey is set to return to one of the game’s hotbeds.

On Tuesday, Hockey Canada announced that the 2027 IIHF World Junior Championship will be held in Edmonton and Red Deer, Alberta.

If you include the unofficial 1975 tournament, when Winnipeg and Brandon, Manitoba co-hosted the tournament, 2027 will mark the 20th time that Canada has hosted the World Juniors. It will also be the fifth time Edmonton has been one of the hosts. The provincial capital of Alberta was first co-hosted the event with Red Deer and Calgary in 1995. Edmonton later co-hosted in 2012, serving as the primary host in 2021, and both attempts at the WJC in 2022 during the COVID years. Canada won gold in 1995 and 2022, taking home the bronze in 2012 and silver in 2021.

Rogers Place, also home of the Edmonton Oilers, will most likely serve as the ‘A’ rink for the 2027 World Juniors, while the Marchant Crane Centrium, home of the Western Hockey League’s Red Deer Rebels, will be the second arena.

Eight of Canada’s record 20 gold medals in the tournament have come on home ice.

The nation has hosted the event semi-annually since 2015 with varying levels of success. Canada last won gold in 2023 in Halifax, but unceremoniously bowed out in the quarterfinals, for the second year in a row, in Ottawa last January.

Canada will also hold the event in 2029, with Quebec City and Trois-Rivières co-hosting the tournament.

This year’s World Juniors is set to be held in Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota. While the Americans are looking for an unprecedented third consecutive gold medal, the Canadians are hoping a good batch of young talent can help turn the country’s fortunes around. Canada won the last tournament held in the U.S., winning the gold in Buffalo in 2018.