The 1990 IIHF Women's World Championships was an international women's ice hockey competition held at the Civic Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada (now renamed the TD Place Arena) from March 19 to 25, in 1990. This was the first IIHF-sanctioned international tournament in women's ice hockey and is the only major international tournament in women's ice hockey to allow bodychecking. Full contact bodychecking was allowed with certain restrictions near the boards. The intermissions between periods were twenty minutes instead of fifteen. This has since been changed to the usual fifteen minutes.