23-05-2025
Laval University To Add Women's Hockey Joining U Sports In 2026
Laval University is set to join RSEQ as a member of U Sports women's hockey for the 2026-27 season, revitalizing a program that has not played since 1990.
"The topic came up in the news a few times a year, and now it's done: university hockey is returning to the Rouge et Or family," said Julie Dionne, Director of the Sports Activities Department at Laval University in a translated school news release.
"With the growing popularity of women's hockey and the absence of a French-language university team outside of Montreal, the arrival of the Rouge et Or comes at a perfect time. There is a tremendous desire to grow this sport and make it a destination of choice for dozens of young women who want to compete at a high level while pursuing university studies. Establishing a new team of this magnitude obviously requires a lot of resources—financial, human, and material—but we firmly believe the investment is worth it. The support of the Quebec City business community and hockey fans will be vital to the success of this new team. "
It will mark a new era for women's hockey in Quebec City where the community recently made a bid for a PWHL team drawing more than 18,000 fans to a PWHL Takeover Tour game this winter.
Laval University will join the University of Montreal, McGill University, Concordia University, and Bishop's University in the province of Quebec as U Sports women's hockey teams. Laval University will now begin the process of recruiting staff and players.
"Building a team from scratch is a colossal undertaking," said Jean-Noël Corriveau, Assistant Director and Head of the Rouge et Or program in the school's release. "Our goal is to be competitive quickly, and we hope to hire a coach in the coming weeks. That's why it was important to open the application process as soon as the announcement was made. Recruitment will be very important, and the successful candidate will have to put in a lot of effort from the moment they take the job."
