Pitch put forward for Hamilton to host 2032 World Junior hockey tournament

The City of Hamilton could be bidding to host the 2032 World Junior Hockey Tournament.

The director of Tourism Hamilton pitched the idea to the city’s general issues committee today at city hall.

This is in the very early stages and would still have to be approved by city council, but the impact of an event of that size and the expected benefits to the city are enticing to Tourism Hamilton.

The Hamilton Hammers will play their first home game at TD Coliseum on Oct. 9, and the city’s new PWHL team will hit the ice in the fall, bringing Hamilton back to being a “hockey city.”

“There’s a whole lot of hockey here and it’s something where we want to support the game and grow the game. It’s got such a great tradition here, why would we not,” said Tourism Hamilton director Lisa Abbott.

Abbott is pitching that the city bid for the 2032 World Junior Hockey Tournament.

“With the recent developments in our tourism portfolio, with the fantastic TD Coliseum and all of the improvements that have been made, it’s a great time now to up our game a little bit and think about things that are as significant and important as the World Juniors,” Abbott said.

Hamilton hasn’t hosted the World Juniors in more than 40 years, and bringing a tournament of this size to the city would cost around $6 million, but draw hundreds of thousands of spectators.

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TD Coliseum officials couldn’t go on camera today, but sent CHCH News a statement.

“We’re always interested in exploring opportunities to bring world-class events to TD Coliseum and Hamilton. The IIHF World Junior Championship is one of the premier events in international hockey, and hosting it would be an incredible opportunity to showcase our city, our venue, and our community on the global stage.”

“It’s a great idea for the city of Hamilton, it’s a great idea for TD Coliseum,” said Don Robertson, director of the Ontario Hockey Association.

Roberston — who hasn’t been approached for this bid — fears Hamilton could run into the same problem he ran into years ago trying to bring the World Juniors to the city.

“In the early 2000s when we had the Bulldogs, the biggest pushback from Hockey Canada was we don’t have an OHL team. And that will be fundamentally their challenge because if there’s OHL teams or centres in Canada that can do it, they’ll probably lean that way. I think it’s a wonderful idea and they certainly should pursue the initiative, but your challenge is you don’t have an OHL hockey team,” Robertson said.

“Absolutely it’s a concern. And this is really not — we are just starting in the conversation. Why not see how far we can take it,” Abbott said.

Canada will be hosting the tournament at least twice before 2032, with Edmonton and Red Deer sharing hosting duties in 2027, and Quebec City and Trois-Rivières teaming up in 2029. City council still has to approve a Hamilton bid.

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