Qualification for the women's tournament at the 2006 Winter Olympics was determined by the IIHF World Ranking following the 2004 Women's World Ice Hockey Championships. The top four teams in the World Ranking received automatic berths into the Olympics, Italy received an automatic berth as host, and all other teams had an opportunity to qualify for the remaining three spots in the Olympics.
b Halifax was the site for 2004 World Championship; at the conclusion of the tournament the ranking were finalized with regards to the qualification slots.
North Korea and Denmark chose not to participate in Olympic qualifying.
Qualification Tournaments
Three round-robins were played from 11 to 14 November 2004. The teams ranked 5th, 6th and 7th reserved the right to host these tournaments. The three group winners qualified for the Olympic tournament.