Covering women’s hockey over the past year has shown me that the PWHL flourishes in markets where people don’t need convincing that women’s hockey belongs. Those communities show up, and they create environments players want to play in.
And if there’s any city that knows how to show up, it’s Halifax.
The 2025-26 Takeover Tour
Halifax has quickly established itself as a legitimate market for professional women’s hockey. When the PWHL announced two regular-season Takeover Tour games at the Scotiabank Centre, a building that holds just over 11,000 fans, the response was immediate.
Montréal vs. Toronto on December 17, 2025 sold out within minutes of tickets going on sale. Ottawa vs. Boston on January 11, 2026 followed shortly after, reaching near sellout soon after public release.
Halifax’s ticket sales outpaced several larger markets from the previous season’s Takeover Tour, including St. Louis and Buffalo. The city was also one of only a few cities selected to host two Takeover Tour games, a meaningful indication of confidence in the market.
Local partners also stepped up quickly. The Province of Nova Scotia signed on as the presenting sponsor for the first game, while major Atlantic Canadian companies supported the event, reinforcing that interest in women’s hockey in the region extends beyond the fan base and into the corporate community.
The message from those two games was hard to miss. As Nova Scotia–born Team Canada forward Blayre Turnbull put it at the time, “it’s an incredible moment and one that we’re really proud of.”
A History of Showing Up
What makes Halifax’s case especially compelling is that none of this is new.
The city has a long track record of embracing women’s hockey at the highest level. In 2004, Halifax hosted the IIHF Women’s World Championship and set an all-time tournament attendance record that is ranked fourth today.
More than 89,000 fans attended across 20 games, nearly 30,000 more than the previous record set in Kitchener in 1997. Even weeks before the tournament began, organizers announced that advance ticket sales alone had already broken the existing record.
The gold medal game at the Halifax Metro Centre (now Scotiabank Centre) was standing-room only, with over 10,500 fans watching Canada defeat the United States.
That history played a role when the 2020 Women’s World Championship was awarded to Halifax and Truro before being cancelled due to the pandemic.
Hockey Canada repeatedly cited the region’s proven ability to host major women’s hockey events and the strength of local fan support. Halifax remains the only city to have been awarded the Women’s Worlds twice,.
More recently, in February 2025, Halifax hosted a Canada–USA Rivalry Series game that drew nearly 9,300 fans to the Scotiabank Centre. From puck drop to the shootout, the building was loud, engaged, and invested.
Team Canada head coach called Halifax “a great hockey city for events like this” and noted how much the team enjoys playing there.
Halifax Hockey is Growing at Every Level
Halifax’s support for women’s hockey doesn’t end with international events.
At the grassroots and university levels, the sport continues to grow. Girls’ hockey participation across Nova Scotia has increased in recent years, strengthening the pipeline of future players and fans.
At the collegiate level, Atlantic University Sport women’s hockey maintains a dedicated following, and Halifax has become a reliable host for national championships across multiple sports.
The city will host the U SPORTS Women’s Hockey Championship for the first time in 2028, adding to its reputation as one of the strongest university sports markets in the country.
That consistency is what separates a promising market from a proven one. Every time women’s hockey has arrived in Halifax, whether for a world championship, a Rivalry Series game, or a PWHL takeover tour game, the response has been the same.
At this point, the argument isn’t whether Halifax deserves a PWHL team, but when they will get one.
