Richmond, B.C.— British Columbia has been chosen to host Karate Canada’s 2025 National Championships.

The sport governing body for karate in Canada will work in partnership with Karate BC to stage the most important event on the 2025 domestic competition calendar at the spectacular Richmond Olympic Oval which has played host to the World Karate Federation Karate-1 Series A event and the Canada Open Karate Championships in 2023.

“The Greater Vancouver area is renowned as a premiere city for staging world-class events and there is no doubt in my mind they will put on a show once again while hosting the 2025 National Championships,” said Craig Vokey, president, Karate Canada.  “Hosting major events in all corners of the country is critical to the growth and development of our sport across Canada and that holds true for Western Canada – an area that is extremely passionate for karate. The Richmond Olympic Oval is a world-leading venue for staging karate competitions, and we look forward to partnering with Karate BC to stage this prestigious event for our nations’ best athletes.”

It will be the first time in nearly one decade that British Columbia has hosted the National Championships – an event that typically welcomes more than 600 of the top karatekas from across Canada to compete in a variety of age groups including: Youth (12-13 years old); Cadet (14-15 years old); Junior (16-17 years old); U21 (18-20 years old); Senior (16+ years old); and Para divisions for four days of kata and kumite competition.

Karate Canada’s National Championships have previously been contested four times at the Richmond Olympic Oval (2016, 2015, 2014, 2013).

“Karate BC is excited and grateful to have been selected as the host province for the 2025 National Championships. We thank Karate Canada for their confidence in Karate BC, and trusting us with this

important responsibility of hosting Canada’s premier domestic karate competition,” said Donna Gardecki, president, Karate BC. “We look forward to once again collaborating with Karate Canada in

organizing a successful event and welcoming the hundreds of athletes, coaches, team officials, referees and spectators from across the nation to Richmond Olympic Oval for this annual celebration of karate in Canada, while showcasing all that British Columbia has to offer.”

Karate Canada is currently putting the finishing touches to its preparations for the 2024 National Championships while working in partnership with Karate Quebec. The nation will gather at Place Bell in

Laval, Que. for the second-straight year. Event organizers are hoping to top 2023’s record registration numbers that boasted 609 athletes who generated 787 entries with some athletes competing in both kata and kumite disciplines.

Following a recommendation by the High-Performance Committee and approval from the Board of Directors, Karate Canada has been working in consultation with its provincial and territorial sport organizations to see a return to having a split National Championships in 2026.  The Senior National Championship will move to February, while the Junior National Championship will be held in May.

Key drivers behind the move are to create greater synergies with the international event calendar, and to provide more strategic alignment for athlete development pathways with WKF and PKF Championships.

Details on the length of the events are yet to be confirmed. A Request for Proposal to host the 2026 events will be issued in the coming months.

For more information on Karate Canada, please visit us at www.karatecanada.org.