CBC/Radio-Canada announced Monday its historic Hockey Night in Canada program will return for its 90th season this fall in partnership with the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL).
The first women’s hockey game to be featured on the iconic Saturday night broadcast will be the PWHL’s Canadian primetime season opener on Saturday, Dec. 5, featuring the reigning Walter Cup champion Montréal Victoire facing off against expansion team PWHL Hamilton.
In addition, as part of the partnership, Radio-Canada has acquired exclusive radio broadcast rights for all Montréal Victoire games in Canada during the 2026-27 season.
“Our partnership with the PWHL opens a new chapter in sports history. We are proud to announce the return of the iconic Hockey Night in Canada brand, building on this beloved Canadian tradition with the PWHL’s growing fanbase and providing audiences across the country with free access to world-class hockey,” Chris Wilson, executive director of sports and Olympics at CBC, said in a Monday press release. “We’re delivering on our commitment to equal coverage of women’s sports across our platforms and look forward to elevating the athletes and stories at the heart of the game.”
“Women’s hockey captivates fans across the country as we saw the incredible excitement following the Montréal Victoire’s Walter Cup win last May. Radio-Canada is proud to make the PWHL even more accessible by adding radio coverage of all the Victoire’s games in Canada to our TV coverage and bring together fans of our national sport,” said Sophie Morasse, Radio-Canada’s executive director of entertainment, sports and TOU.TV.
The announcement follows the end of CBC’s NHL broadcast deal with Sportsnet this past June, which had previously given CBC rights to nationally televised Saturday night NHL regular season games. Prior to that 12-year sub-licensing agreement with Sportsnet, CBC had been the exclusive broadcaster of Hockey Night in Canada, first on radio starting in 1936 and then on television starting in 1952. The same day in June that CBC announced it would no longer carry NHL broadcasts, it also announced it was increasing its commitment to Canadian sports coverage.
CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada will return as part of CBC Sports Primetime, the public broadcaster’s new weekly Saturday night sports show hosted by veteran broadcaster Andi Petrillo. Launching Oct. 3 on CBC TV and CBC Gem with the Canada Super60 Cricket League, the weekend show will feature major sporting events, professional women’s sports and coverage of Canada’s high-performance athletes as they compete at home and around the world, in Olympic and Paralympic sport. Featured events in October include the Grand Slam of Curling and ISU Figure Skating Grand Prix.
CBC said Hockey Night in Canada will provide coverage of eight primetime PWHL games starting on Dec. 5, including pre- and post-game panel analysis and digital content on cbcsports.ca and social media. In keeping with tradition, each Hockey Night in Canada broadcast will feature a Canadian-based team. The full PWHL schedule including all CBC and Radio-Canada games will be announced on Oct. 2, CBC said.
“Hockey Night in Canada is a fixture in Canadian sports culture, and its Saturday night schedule has ritually captivated hockey fans for nearly a century,” Amy Scheer, PWHL executive vice president of business operations, said in a statement. “Our partnership with CBC has been instrumental in the accessibility and growth of the league, and the opportunity to be part of its iconic brand represents another groundbreaking step for the PWHL to connect with our fans and forge new traditions together.”
Radio-Canada’s audio coverage of all Montréal Victoire games in Canada during the 2026-27 season is in addition to PWHL TV coverage and a selection of Montréal Victoire games and PWHL All-Star on ICI TÉLÉ and ICI TOU.TV. Radio-Canada said it will release more details regarding the broadcast on ICI PREMIÈRE and Radio-Canada Ohdio later this fall.
Radio-Canada’s new weekly show Rendez-vous Podium, combining athletic performances with human stories, will premiere Sunday, Oct. 18. Hosted by Jacinthe Taillon, the program will be available on ICI TELE and ICI TOU.TV on Sunday afternoons, bringing live events and stories about people making a difference on the elite and amateur levels.
