International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) held an online Extra-Annual Congress meeting on Monday to approve the hosts and schedule for the 2021 World Championship program.

The 2021 IIHF Ice Hockey Men's World Championship will take place in Minsk (Belarus), and Riga (Latvia) from May 21 to June 6, while Halifax and Truro of Canada will host the women's tournament from April 7 to 17.

Beijing, the host city for the 2022 Winter Olympics, will hold the Division II Group A in the men's category and the Division I Group B in the women's category as Olympic test events in April 2021.

The meeting also confirmed the qualification for the 2020 Olympic women's ice hockey tournament, which will start in December to fill the three remaining slots.

The men's and women's final Olympic qualification will be held from August 26 to 29, 2021.