The 10 teams are divided into two, tiered, five-team groups in the Preliminary Round.
After a single round-robin series in each group, the five teams from Group A and the best three teams from Group B advance to the Playoff Round.
The Quarter-Finals will be played between A1-B3, A2-B2, A3-B1, A4-A5.
In the semi-finals the best-ranked team - criteria: 1) Tier of the group. 2) placement in the group - will play against the lowest-ranked semi-finalist. The 2nd-best ranked semi-finalist will play the 3rd-best ranked semi-finalist.
The host country if qualified, or otherwise the best-ranked semi-finalist according to beforementioned criteria, shall play the early game. The time slots will officially be determined after the quarter-final games.
The winner of each Semi-Final game will move onto the Gold Medal Game, while the losers will play in the Bronze Medal Game.
The quarter-final losers will play placement games in a knockout format. The winner of the 5th-place game will earn a Group A seeding for next year. The remaining teams (7th to 10th) will be ranked according to 1. the tiered group they played in (A/B), 2. their position within the group, 3. their preliminary-round record (1. points, 2. goal difference, 3. goals scored).
The two highest ranked (after preliminary round combined ranking) losing quarterfinal teams will play the placement game to determine with team will be placed in group A as the fifth team for the 2026 IIHF Women's World Championship.
Relegation format
The overall bottom ranked two teams of the Final Ranking taking into consideration all participating teams will be relegated to the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey Women's World Championship Division I Group A.