Ottawa world juniors expected to jolt typically slow tourism time

Ottawa is bracing for a wave of tourism as the host for the World Junior Hockey Championship in the coming weeks.

The highly anticipated 29-game tournament at the Canadian Tire Centre and TD Place is set to draw fans from across the country and beyond, offering an economic boost to the city during what is typically a quieter holiday season, according to Ottawa Tourism.

"We're already seeing a lot of hotel room demand over the holidays," said Jerome Munoz, its director of public affairs, in an interview Wednesday.

When Halifax and Moncton, N.B., hosted in 2022-23 it generated an estimated $50 million in economic benefits, Miousse said. 

"What we're lucky about here in Ottawa this year is we're hosting the whole tournament single-handedly in one city, so we get to enjoy the full benefits of this influx of visitors and of all the activities that are surrounding the games," Miousse said. 

Ottawa last hosted the 2009 world juniors, drawing more than 450,000 total fans to a tournament remembered for Jordan Eberle's game-tying semifinal goal with six seconds left.

A study commissioned by organizers later that year said visitors for the event drove economic spinoffs, including more than 10,000 nights in hotel rooms.

Keeping up traditions

For Nancy Morrison, who lives in Quispamsis, N.B. near Saint John, this year's tournament is about keeping up traditions. She's attended the tournament before with her late husband Peter Conley who died from cancer in November 2021. 

"We went to Buffalo in 2018 and we saw the first outdoor game between Canada and the U.S.," she said. "It was incredible, very cold and very snowy, but very exciting."

This year, Morrison will be flying into Ottawa on Christmas to once again see the championship in person with her niece and nephew. The family has plans to do some sightseeing at the Royal Canadian Mint, Parliament Hill and the ByWard Market between games.

"Being able to do this would be something that he would have wanted to do as well. And so even though I'm going alone, it's as if he's going with me, and then I'm continuing on the tradition,"  Morrison said. 

Dan Turner from Halifax said this will be the fourth championships he's attended.

"It's a Christmas tradition around our house," he said. "But to see it first-hand is hard to beat."

This year, Turner will be travelling with his family to a hotel booked near the Canadian Tire Centre.

"Now to be able to go to these games and see the young junior players, give it their all, it's so exciting," said Turner. "It just means a great deal."

Players for qualifying countries are eligible as long as they're between 15 and 20 years old on the year the tournament ends, 2025 in this case. Russia and Belarus were again banned because of "security concerns for players, competition staff and fans" around the military invasion of Ukraine.

After a slate of pre-tournament games spread across eastern Ontario, the tournament runs Dec. 26 to Jan. 5.