The Ottawa Charge will be playing hockey at Canadian Tire Centre next season.
The Professional Women’s Hockey League team and the Ottawa Senators announced the Charge will be moving from the Arena at TD Place to the arena in Ottawa’s west end full-time for the 2026-27 season.
“This is a really big step for our organization and our league,” Charge general manager Mike Hirshfeld told reporters.
“We’ve seen tremendous growth of our sport and our league and our team, but this is the next step for us, the next chapter in our organization.”
The Charge will be playing and practicing at the Canadian Tire Centre, with Hirshfeld saying the club has signed a “multi-year agreement” to play in the west end.
“We’re excited, obviously, to play in this arena and all the benefits that we’ll get from playing in this type of situation. We’re also extremely excited to work closely with the Senators,” Hirshfeld said.
Senators president and CEO Cyril Leeder said the Senators are “very pleased” to welcome the Charge and the PWHL to the Canadian Tire Centre.
“We really feel that the PWHL and the Ottawa Charge are an important part of our hockey ecosystem here,” Leeder said.
“While we run an NHL team, we really think we’re stewards of the sport as well.”
The Senators and the Charge said work was underway to create a permanent home for the PWHL club. There will be a locker-room space for the players and a lounge for the Charge at Canadian Tire Centre.
“I think we’ll have, probably, the top facilities in the PWHL after all this built.”
The Charge played games at the Arena at TD Place at Lansdowne during their first three seasons. The club played a regular season game against the Montreal Victoire at Canadian Tire Centre in April and played all four playoff games in April and May in the west end.
In a statement to CTV News Ottawa, Adrian Sciarra, president of the Ottawa REDBLACKS and Ottawa 67’s, congratulated the Charge.
“From day one, Ottawa embraced the Charge, and it has been incredible to see the passion this community has shown for the team and for professional women’s hockey. The energy, enthusiasm, and support from fans have helped establish the Charge as an important part of Ottawa’s sports community,” Sciarra said.
“We’re proud that TD Place had the opportunity to serve as the Charge’s home during the club’s first three seasons. There were many memorable moments and always an electric atmosphere at TD Place, and we’re grateful to everyone who was a part of it. We wish the Charge continued success and look forward to cheering them on at the Canadian Tire Centre.”
There was a boost in attendance for Charge games at the Canadian Tire Centre.
A total of 13,112 fans watched Game 3 of the Charge first-round playoff series against Boston, while 11,297 fans watched game 4 at the Canadian Tire Centre. During the Walter Cup Final, the Charge saw 16,894 fans for Game 3 and 12,362 fans for Game 4.
The Charge averaged approximately 7,300 fans during its games at TD Place last season.
Officials with the Professional Women’s Hockey League said last fall that the Charge would never play a game at a new arena at Lansdowne, after Council approved Lansdowne 2.0 with a 6,500-person capacity new event centre. More than 8,500 fans can pack the Arena at TD Place for games.
“These women have worked too hard to get to the point today where a 5,500-seat building is well below what we average in Ottawa,” Amy Scheer, executive vice-president of business operations for the Professional Women’s Hockey League, told reporters in November.
City Manager Wendy Stephanson and the Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group, which operates Lansdowne, were directed to negotiate a possible lease extension for the Ottawa Charge at the Arena at TD Place.
Hirshfeld gave a “shout out” to Ottawa Sports and Entertainment Group president Mark Goudie, Adrian Sciarra and their team at Lansdowne.
“They were great partners for us, and obviously we loved being there,” he said.
“We had, you know, created some great memories. They were very professional and great to work with. And again, I want to make sure that we acknowledge them and all that they helped us with as we started from day one to get to this point.”
