Over the next 10 days, Moose Jaw will see an influx of people, with the 2023 World Para Ice Hockey Championship taking place from May 28 to June 4.  

Athletes, officials, families, fans, and volunteers from all over will be calling Moose Jaw home for the seven-day tournament.  

To help alleviate the pressures of parking downtown, Moose Jaw City Council approved the extension of free transit service to athletes, officials, volunteers, and valid tournament pass holders for the duration of the event.  

Acting Director of Public Works, Rod Montgomery, brought this motion to council on Monday night.  

“During our normal routes, if they have a valid pass, they could just jump on transit,” says Montgomery. “It benefits us in a lot of ways, it keeps the core area a little less congested with extra parking.” 

Montgomery adds that the free transit would have zero impact on the 2023 Operating Budget, as the buses are already in operation, running their respective routes.  

This service will only be included during normal operating hours, which are just after 7:00 a.m. for some routes to about 6:30 p.m. This service will be at no extra charge to the City of Moose Jaw.  

The Government of Saskatchewan, through Tourism Saskatchewan, is contributing $45,000 to the event. An estimated $2 million in economic spin-off may be expected. 

Mayor Clive Tolley brought up the question of if this free transit service will have any impact on the ongoing Para Transit within the city.  

“Paratransit is doing a lot of work behind the scenes where they will be coordinating with the organizing committee and teams to help facilitate moving people back and forth to where their accommodations are,” replies Montgomery,” This particular part of it is just the regular transit.” 

Tolley does believe this is a good service to offer to those attending the tournament.  

“It will get our buses busier and offer free service to visitors,” says Tolley.  

Councilor Heather Eby adds that each participating team will have their own bus to go to and from their hotel and Hockey Canada has arranged transportation for officials to get to and from the Moose Jaw Events Centre.  

This isn’t the first time that complimentary transit service has been offered to those attending special events within the city. The same service was offered for the Canadian Forces Snowbirds Reunion and the Canadian Wheelchair Curling Championship.  

Unfortunately, those not possessing tournament packages will still have to pay the regular bus fare.  

The 2023 World Para Ice Hockey Championship will kick off on Sunday with Korea and Czechia battling it out at the Moose Jaw Events Centre at 11:00 p.m. MT.  

Team Canada will open up their tournament on Monday against Korea at 7:00 p.m. MT. 

Moose Jaw will welcome teams from Canada, the United States, Czechia, Korea, Germany, China, Italy, and Norway, who all will embark on the Moose Jaw Events Centre for the world championship event.   

All 20 games, including the gold medal game on June 4 at 7 p.m. MT, will be played at Moose Jaw Events Centre.    

Tickets for the 2023 World Para Ice Hockey Championship are on sale to the public and can be purchased at HockeyCanada.ca/Tickets, starting as low as $15.