Raphaëlle Tousignant has been named to Canada's World Para Hockey Championship roster, the first woman ever to achieve the honor.

The name Raphaëlle Tousignant will forever be tied to history as the 20-year-old Terrebonne, Quebec product became the first ever woman named to Canada's men's Para Ice Hockey team.

"At 12 I said I wanted to play on the Canadian Men’s Team and go to the Paralympics with this team. It is 8 years later, at 20 years old, that I am achieving one of my biggest dreams and goals in recent years: to be the first woman to include training for the Men's National Parahockey Team," Tousignant wrote on social media.

"This is still surreal ! So grateful and excited to get to wear the maple leaf again but this time at the Worlds."

Tousignant was a member of Canada's recent Development Team that competed against USA in preparation for the 2023 World Para Hockey Championship. Edmonton's Alanna Mah was also part of the Development Team, but did not make Canada's final roster.

"No dream is too crazy to be achieved, just never stop believing and working hard," Tousignant continued in her statement

"This selection is one more step towards realizing my biggest dream, the Paralympic Games. Slowly but surely."

Should Tousignant achieve her goal of playing in the Paralympics for Canada, she would become only the fourth woman in history to compete in the event. Norway's Britt Mjaasund Oyen broke that barrier in 1994 at Lillehammer followed by fellow Norweigan Lena Schrøder in 2018, and China's Jing Yu in 2022.

Tousignant plays her club para ice hockey for Transat de Montréal.

Currently, the only option for women in Canada to compete in sanctioned events is by making the men's team. Hockey Canada only funds Canada's men's para ice hockey team, while Canada's women's para ice hockey team, to which Tousignant is also a member, relies on fundraising and donors to compete.

This summer, Canada's women's para ice hockey team will compete at the second ever Women's World Challenge in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The hope is the event will lead to an official World Para Ice Hockey Challenge for women in 2025.