Vaughan could be laying the groundwork for something the city has never had before: its own Ontario Hockey League (OHL) venue, and potentially, an OHL franchise to call home.
City councillors are exploring options to bring major junior hockey to Vaughan, and the first step on the table is a feasibility study that’s meant to answer big questions, like where it would go, who would pay for it, and, more importantly, would it actually be used enough to justify the cost?
According to YorkRegion.com, at a Feb 4 committee meeting, Vaughan city councillors shared an update on steps that need to be taken should the OHL project go through. Staff presented two potential building scenarios to support a facility that could meet OHL requirements: a 10,000-seat arena, with an initial build cost estimated at $400 million, and a smaller 5,000-seat arena, with an initial build cost estimated at $260 million.
In either scenario, the venue would need to sit on a 15-to-30-acre site and include space for food, as well as beverage and souvenir concessions, to meet the league’s requirements.
To help the city identify a possible site and map out a facility plan, council passed a motion to proceed with an estimated $150,000 feasibility study; this would include a resident survey, with a final report expected to come back to council in early 2027. The city has said that the cost could be absorbed within the existing 2026 operating budgets.
The online response so far is a bit up in the air. In a recent Reddit thread about the issue, some users said that there are more important things to spend money on.
“I’m sorry, but as a long-time Vaughan taxpayer, I do not support spending my tax dollars on this at all. There are so many other priorities the city must deal with. First and foremost is improving car and cycling infrastructure, which remains a huge mess,” one user noted, while another argued how it could benefit the city.
“Communities with good services are nice to live in ?♀️ more rink time in the area is probably desirable as girls start taking to hockey more. It’ll bring a couple jobs. Imo s study is a good idea…”
If nothing else, the idea lands at a time when the league itself is signalling it’s open to growth. The OHL currently consists of 20 teams (17 in Ontario and three in the U.S.), and it’s part of the pipeline that feeds elite talent into the NHL. In late 2024, Sportsnet reported that the OHL had been given a mandate to pursue “aggressive expansion,” noting the league hadn’t added an expansion franchise since 1998.
