Ottawa is no stranger to hosting prestigious provincial, national and international sport events, including the World Men’s Curling Championship and the World Rugby Pacific Four Series during 2023. This year, the city is doubling down on its sport hosting goals with the IIHF World Junior Ice Hockey Championships landing in December, a multimillion-dollar plan to replace aging sports infrastructure at Lansdowne Park, and talk of a new arena for the Ottawa Senators hockey team.
By Angela Kryhul
OTTAWA FAST FACTS
ACCOMMODATIONS: 11,000 total guestrooms, of which 6,000+ are downtown
GETTING HERE: Ottawa International Airport is within a two-hour flight of 200 million North Americans
KEY SPORT VENUES:
• Canadian Tire Centre arena
• TD Place stadium and arena
• EY Centre exhibition facility
• The RA Centre multi-sport, recreation and leisure facility featuring ball diamonds, curling ice, fields and more
• Post-secondary sport facilities and seasonal accommodations at Carleton University and the University of Ottawa
World Juniors 2025
The last time Ottawa hosted the World Juniors was in 2009, with the event generating over $50 million in economic impact for the Ottawa Region and $80.5 million for the province of Ontario. More than 453,000 fans attended the competitions. “I think we’ll break our own record this year,” says Lesley Pincombe, vice-president, meetings and major events, Ottawa Tourism, and a co-chair of the Ottawa host committee.
December 26, 2024 to January 5, 2025
10 countries | 29 tournament games
Sport venues: Canadian Tire Centre; TD Place at Lansdowne
OTTAWA’S UPCOMING SPORT EVENTS
2024 FIVB Men’s Volleyball Nations League
2024 Commissionaires Ottawa Open
2024 10th Annual Canadian Transplant Games
2025 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships
2025 Canadian Track and Field Championships
2025 Masters Indigenous Games
2026 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships
Lansdowne 2.0
Lansdowne Park holds a storied place in Ottawa history as a gathering place for sports, entertainment and community events. The complex attracts well over 4 million visitors annually and hosted a record 165+ ticketed events during 2023.
Last November, Ottawa city council approved an updated revitalization plan for the mixed-use site, put forward by the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group (OSEG).
Phase One: Replace the existing arena complex with a new mid-sized Event Centre, featuring 4,700 general admission seats with capacity to increase to 5,500 seats for hockey games and 6,500 for concerts.
Phase Two: Replace the 57-year-old, functionally obsolete northside stadium with modern, sustainable and accessible stands accommodating 11,000 seated and 900 standing room attendees.
The $419-million project is expected to attract even more major events to Ottawa. “This project gives us a lot of optimism because the buildings will be brand new and purpose built…to ensure they can accommodate parasport as well as ablebodied sport. That’s where we think it will provide us with a whole new niche of event attraction,” Pincombe says, noting that the 2026 World Wheelchair Basketball Championships is among the parasport tournaments coming to Ottawa.
“Having new infrastructure and facilities that can accommodate all abilities is definitely something we can get behind,” Pincombe adds.
Will Ottawa get a new downtown arena befitting its NHL team?
We’ll have to wait and see. The Ottawa Senators’ new owners—Michael Andlauer and Capital Sports Development Inc.—are reviewing a memorandum of understanding regarding a parcel of land on LeBreton Flats, west of Parliament Hill, that was signed by the team’s previous owner and the National Capital Commission in 2022. Andlauer is also considering other Ottawa locations.
OTTAWA’S PRO SPORTS TEAMS
• Ottawa Redblacks (CFL)
• Ottawa Senators (NHL)
• Ottawa 67s (OHL)
• Atlético Ottawa (Canadian Premier League)
• Ottawa BlackJacks (Canadian Elite Basketball League)
Photos: Ottawa Tourism; Derek Mellon; OSEG
Published March 2024
