Hockey will be a part of the 2016 Arctic Winter Games after all.

An agreement signed between the City of Iqaluit and the Arctic Winter Games will see hockey played in the Nunavut capital, Iqaluit deputy mayor Mary Wilman confirmed with the Star this morning.

“Greenland came over to us to ask if we could host that portion of the Arctic Winter Games, simply because they don’t have hockey facilities over there,” Wilman explained.

“They wanted very much for hockey to be part of it.”

Wilman said joining Nuuk, Greenland, as a host will be beneficial to the city, which has two arenas.

“Greenland is our neighbour and we’ve always had strong ties,” the deputy mayor said. “There are a lot of off-spin benefits by having this.”

Hockey teams are expected to participate in the opening and closing ceremonies in Greenland, but spend the majority of their time competing in Iqaluit. Wilman said the flight between cities is about an hour and a half.

Since 2012, the Yukon government has been looking for ways to reinstate the six sports excluded from the Greenland event – including midget hockey, dog mushing, curling, speedskating, figure skating and gymnastics.

The sports were left off the schedule due to a lack of infrastructure and hosting capacity.

A CBC report on the hockey agreement indicated solutions for the other excluded sports have not yet been reached.

Newly-named Yukon director John Flynn said he couldn’t comment on the decision, as it was made at a meeting in Vancouver last month that he was unable to attend.

A message left with Arctic Winter Games personnel was not returned this morning.

In April, the territorial government proposed the Yukon capital as a potential host of the alternative Arctic X Games.

Cabinet communications director Elaine Schiman said sports and recreation minister Brad Cathers has been working with the Arctic Winter Games to find a solution for the excluded sports, and is hoping to make an announcement soon.

Whitehorse Minor Hockey Association president Carl Burgess said news of the agreement is interesting.

The Arctic Winter Games is “one of many major tournaments” that the WMHA looks to incorporate as a sport development goal.

“We’re also working on other similar bigger-scale events, for instance the B.C. provincials,” Burgess said.