If you’re trying to get to know Canadian culture, you will have to get familiar with ice hockey. Hockey is one of Canada’s national sports and a cultural obsession for canucks. In fact, Canadians love hockey so much that they’ll watch it day and night.
At Remitly, we’re committed to supporting immigrants in their integration into a new culture. Whether you’ve moved to Canada for work or personal reasons, playing or watching hockey is a great way to meet locals. This article details everything that newcomers to Canada need to know about celebrating Canada’s Hockey Night and Hockey Day.
Hockey in Canada
Ice hockey is an integral part of Canada’s national identity. The sport is a major source of national pride and patriotism. Since 1994, the sport has been recognized as Canada’s official winter sport. The fervor for ice hockey in Canada hasn’t died down and it probably never will.
Needless to say, if you’re trying to get your foot in the door of Canadian culture, hockey is a great entry point. No matter where you live in the country, there will be plenty of hockey fans. Just to prove that this country can’t get enough hockey, there are two cultural hockey staples in Canada: Hockey Night and Hockey Day.
Canada’s weekly Hockey Night
Hockey Night in Canada (HNIC) is a weekly broadcast of professional National Hockey League (NHL) games in Canada, which happens every Saturday night. This broadcast has been going strong for over half a century, since it started on the radio in 1931. In 1952, HNIC was televised by CBS. In 2013, the broadcast was taken over by Rogers Communications.
Hockey Night in Canada is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running TV sports program. It is also Canada’s highest-rated series and has averaged about 2 million viewers for the last several decades. Many people think of the HNIC theme music as an alternative national anthem.
Scotiabank’s Hockey Day
In 2000, HNIC was supplemented by Hockey Day in Canada, usually held yearly in January or February. This special day features games from all of Canada’s NHL teams, plus programming that helps connect the local community with hockey. You can think of it as Canada’s answer to the US Super Bowl.
Hockey Day is sponsored by Scotiabank and broadcast by Sportsnet. It’s an all-day event to celebrate all things hockey.
How Hockey Day is organized
Hockey Day is a big event that requires a lot of planning and coordination. More than just a series of hockey games, this event leverages the talents and skills of an entire community to ensure that the day runs smoothly.
Choosing a venue
Hockey Day in Canada has been happening for the past 25 years. Since 2000, a different location in Canada has been chosen to host the event. The most recent host of Hockey Day was Canmore in Alberta.
The location of Hockey Day requires collaboration between local organizing committees and Scotiabank. Hosting Hockey Day is an opportunity for different communities around Canada to showcase their love for the sport alongside local heritage and Canada’s natural beauty.
Coordinating with local hockey teams
Hockey Day always features games played by the seven Canadian National Hockey League (NHL) teams:
- Calgary Flames
- Edmonton Oilers
- Montreal Canadiens
- Ottawa Senators
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- Vancouver Canucks
- Winnipeg Jets
Although the professional games tend to be the highlight of Hockey Day, the event also features amateur games and women’s hockey. There have also been Hockey Day broadcasts that included pickup games, which can last all night.
How sponsors build community
Hockey Day is sponsored by Scotiabank and, as a result, the event is often called Scotiabank’s Hockey Day. Their goal is to connect with local communities through hockey, create memorable experiences, and support the next generation of hockey players with lots of activities for kids.
In order to achieve these goals, Hockey Day is becoming more and more accessible. This helps everyone enjoy the sport that Canadians love. For example, the most recent Hockey Day was broadcast in six different languages. This is a reflection of how welcoming Canada is to immigrants and newcomers.
Entertainment ideas for your Hockey Day celebrations
If you can’t attend Hockey Day in person, consider hosting a local celebration for you and your friends. Gathering together to celebrate hockey is a great way to build community and connect with Canadian culture.
Hockey Day organizers understand the power of connecting around sport. Newcomers to Canada have expressed how important Hockey Day has been to their integration into Canadian culture.
Hockey Day is more than just hockey. It’s about becoming a part of the local community, feeling connected with the culture, and making new memories. Here are a few things to consider if you’re looking to host a Hockey Day event in your home.
Screening parties
If you decide to host a screening party for Hockey Day in Canada, make sure you choose a good location. Oftentimes, this could be your own home. However, if you don’t have the technical equipment necessary or enough space, you might consider an outside location. Once you’ve decided on a location, consider the following aspects of a good screening party:
- Seating: Wherever you choose to host your screening party, keep in mind that people will want to be comfortable for a long period of time. This means that you should have enough seats for everyone you’re inviting. If you don’t have enough seating in one area of your home, consider setting up multiple viewing locations. It might be fun to separate viewers by team affiliation!
- Snacks: Hockey Day is an all-day event, so your guests are going to get hungry. Try to focus on foods and drinks that are easy to manage without sitting at a table. Finger food, like chicken wings or cheese and crackers, is a great option. Food becomes part of the fun when you can make it hockey-themed! If you’re an immigrant to Canada, you might also consider bringing in some of your culture’s foods to blend your home culture with Canadian culture.
- The screen: If you’re hosting a small party, a regular TV should be enough. If your guest list is a bit longer, you might consider setting up a projector to really immerse yourself in the action.
- The audio: Make sure that you have good audio output for Hockey Day. External speakers are often clearer and better quality than those that are built into TV screens. You’ll want to make sure all of your guests can hear the broadcasting, especially as Hockey Day is broadcast in multiple different languages!
- Invites and decorations: Whether you choose to send out paper invites or digital invitations, you’ll want to make your guests aware of your screening party several weeks in advance. As the day approaches, prepare some decorations for your party. Sporty decorations, like streamers, tablecloths, and balloons, can help set the scene for your screening party.
Games and trivia
Hockey has a long history in Canada. Between big games, you can take a break from the action and test your hockey knowledge by planning some games and trivia for your guests. Here are some facts that you might want to include if you’re planning games for your Hockey Day guests.
- Hockey Day 2025 was broadcast in six different languages: Punjabi, Plains Cree, Mandarin, Cantonese, Hindi, Tagalog, Gujarati, and Spanish.
- The host of every single Hockey Day since 2000 is Ron MacLean.
- Diehard hockey fans are often called “rink rats.”
- Canada has seven men’s NHL teams.
- The Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL) has six teams, three from Canada and three from the US.
As Hockey Day approaches, consider building in some stats and trivia from the current season of NHL play. This up-to-date knowledge will separate the true fans from the people who are just in it for the snacks!
Enhancing the experience
Canada is a vast country, and the people who you want to celebrate Hockey Day with might be far away. This is even more true if you’re a newcomer to Canada looking to share the hockey spirit with friends or family from outside the country. Here are our suggestions for getting people near and far involved in the festivities.
Hosting virtual celebrations
If you’re looking to create a virtual aspect to your screening party, make sure you choose an accessible and reliable platform. Services like Zoom, Google Meet, and Skype are great ways to share audio and video.
Make sure you choose timing that works for guests that might be in different time zones. Since Hockey Day is an all-day event, you can have guests attend virtually for whatever part of the day best fits in their schedule.
Virtual games and themed activities will help your guests from afar feel connected to the action of Hockey Day. You can create an online trivia game and share your screen to have everyone join in the action.
Sharing recipes for food or drinks that you’d like to have at the celebration ahead of time gives your virtual guests an opportunity to share in your experience. If everyone is having a similar beverage or snack, even if they are far away, it will help unify the experience.
Creating an event in the age of social media
One of the purposes of Hockey Day is to provide experiences that will build core memories. In order to best savor the memories of this special day, you can leverage social media in the following ways:
- Create a hashtag that your friends and family can use to share content from Hockey Day.
- Use online polls to engage your family and friends. For example, you could use polls to predict the winners of the major NHL games that are broadcast on Hockey Day.
- Create a shareable playlist with your guests. You can make the playlist collaborative so that everyone can add some of their favorite sports anthems to the queue.
- Prepare for photos! Make sure that your space is well-decorated for friends and family who attend your screening party in person. You can also use screenshots and screen recording functions to capture memories with virtual guests. Consider setting up a photo station to encourage people to take photos of the day.
FAQs
What do you do on Hockey Day in Canada?
Hockey Day is a celebration of ice hockey in Canada. You can attend celebrations in person, by watching games, attending live performances, or visiting fan festivals. You can also celebrate with your friends and family by watching the live broadcasts of hockey games and other programming.
Do you have to pay to join in on Hockey Day celebrations?
If you’d like to attend Hockey Day events in person, you will have to purchase a ticket. Tickets go on sale a few months before the big day. There are usually portions of the event that are free to attend. Information about Hockey Day 2026 is not yet available. To give you an idea of the event, you can peruse the schedule from 2025, when Hockey Day was hosted in Canmore.
Why do hockey teams and fans sometimes wear purple?
Purple is the color associated with the Hockey Fights Cancer initiative. Purple is associated with pancreatic cancer, which is one of the deadliest types of the disease. Purple is also a good choice to highlight this initiative because no major league team has purple as its usual uniform color.
How can I watch Hockey Day in Canada?
Hockey Day in Canada is broadcast on Sportsnet, Sportsnet+, and CBC. If you don’t have access to these channels, consider heading out to a local restaurant or bar. Hockey Day is a big event in Canada, and most restaurants and bars that typically show sports games will be showing Hockey Day coverage. Searching for hockey bars in your area will usually give you some good options.