2017-18 CWHL season

The 2017–18 CWHL season is the 11th season of the Canadian Women's Hockey League. This is also the first season in which the teams pay their players a salary.

Offseason
On June 5, 2017, the league revealed at the Hockey Hall of Fame that it would expand into China with the Kunlun Red Star WIH, a women's team associated with the Kontinental Hockey League's Kunlun Red Star men's team. The recent expansions into China is aimed for developing their ice hockey teams for when Beijing hosts the 2022 Winter Olympics. Prior to the official announcement of the team joining the CWHL, Noora Raty and American forward Kelli Stack were at the announcement at the Hockey Hall of Fame wearing Red Star jerseys. The league soon added a second Chinese team in the Vanke Rays.

On September 1, the league announced that it would begin having salaries for their players for the first time. Each player is set to make a minimum of $2,000 per season and a maximum of $10,000 with a team salary cap of $100,000. At the time of the announcement, it made the league the second fully professional women's hockey league in North America after the launch of the rival National Women's Hockey League in the United States in 2015.

CWHL Draft
The 2017 CWHL Draft marked the first time that the Draft involves the Kunlun Red Star WIH and Vanke Rays. Courtney Turner was selected with the first overall pick in the draft, claimed by the Boston Blades.