HUB International has signed a multi-year partnership with the Professional Women’s Hockey League (PWHL), becoming an official partner and the official employee benefits partner of the league in Canada.
The deal, announced on October 30, starts with the 2026-27 season. It covers the PWHL’s five Canadian markets: Hamilton, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto and Vancouver. HUB’s brand will appear on PWHL broadcasts and in community hockey programming and fan experiences.
“This partnership matches the size of our ambitions in Canada,” said Tina Osen, president of HUB Canada.
HUB will be the presenting partner of Hockey Heroes, a PWHL program that invites fans to nominate women who coach youth hockey in each of the five Canadian team markets. HUB will help choose a national honoree, who will be recognized at the PWHL Draft, and a donation will go to a charity in the winner’s city that supports coaching for women.
Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s executive vice president of business operations, said the partnership would introduce HUB to the league’s Canadian fans while helping the league grow and connect with its communities.
The PWHL said average in-arena attendance rose 28% last season as the league expands to 12 teams across the US and Canada. Registration in girls’ and women’s hockey in Canada reached a record 121,000 players last season, a trend the league said Hockey Canada has partly credited to the PWHL’s rise.
National sports sponsorships are more common for insurers than brokers, which typically market locally. HUB, which has more than 6,000 employees in Canada, is using the deal to raise its national profile. The designation as official employee benefits partner points to where it wants to grow. Earlier this month, HUB Canada created two national roles in its employee benefits and retirement practice, citing client demand for more integrated support.
For competing brokers, HUB’s move shows large consolidators investing in consumer-facing brands, not just in acquisitions. In the employee benefits market, where employers often choose advisors based on reputation and relationships, a national brand presence could help HUB win mid-sized employer accounts against regional firms.
