Canada's women's Para hockey opens world championship with win over Team World

Canada's women's Para hockey team sits first in its group after a 10-0 win over Team World Tuesday at the inaugural Para Ice Hockey Women's World Championships in Dolny Kubin, Slovakia.

Raphaelle Tousignant and Alyssa White each scored hat tricks and Maggie Manning recorded the shutout as Canada secured three points to sit atop Group B ahead of Team World and Great Britain, Canada's next opponent on Thursday.

The tournament runs through Sunday and features six teams: Canada, the United States, Britain, Australia, Norway and Team World, made up of players from nine countries.

Team USA leads Group B with three points after its 8-0 win over Australia. The top two teams in each group advance to Saturday's semifinals, with the medal games on Sunday.

All games are being streamed live on the Paralympic YouTube channel and World Para Ice Hockey Facebook page.

WATCH | Canada defeats Team World 10-0:

World Para Ice Hockey needs to organize at least two women's world championships before submitting a proposal to the International Paralympic Committee's governing board to be included as a women's only sport in the 2030 Paralympics.

Para hockey at the Paralympics is currently mixed-gender, but only three women — two from Norway, one from China — have ever participated. It's the main reason why the Winter Games have a pronounced gender gap, with women representing only 24 per cent of 564 athletes in Beijing.

WATCH | Canada prepares for first-ever women's Para hockey worlds in Slovakia:

As a non-Paralympic sport, women's Para hockey does not fall under the Hockey Canada umbrella — although the governing body's foundation is a key sponsor — and the national team does not receive funding from Sport Canada or Own The Podium.

Since the program's inception in 2007, players have paid thousands annually to travel across the country for training camps and competitions.

That's starting to change thanks to the world championships. Three months ago, the team thought each player would have to shell out between $5,500 and $6,000 for the tournament, but several corporate sponsors and supporters covered the costs.