The 1996 IIHF European Women Championships were the sixth and final holding of the IIHF European Women Championships. The tournaments were held in March 1996, with Pool A playing in Yaroslavl, Russia during 23–29 March and Pool B playing in Trnava and Piešťany, Slovakia during 12–16 March.
The format remained unchanged from the previous year, with promoted replacing relegated in the Pool A tournament.
The tournament was the final European Championship ever to be held, as the International Ice Hockey Federation expanded the World Championships to include tiered divisions.
| Tourney Name: | IIHF European Women's Championship |
| Year: | 1996 |
| Other Titles: | Pool A |
| Country: | Russia |
| Dates: | 23–29 March |
| Num Teams: | 6 |
| Venues: | 1 |
| Cities: | 1 |
| Type: | ihw |
| Winners: | Sweden |
| Count: | 1 |
| Second: | RUS |
| Third: | FIN |
| Fourth: | NOR |
| Games: | 15 |
| Goals: | 95 |
| Scoring Leader: |  Yekaterina Pashkevich (6+3=9) |
Six teams completed in Pool A, with Russia joining the group after winning the 1995 Pool B tournament. The teams were:
A single round-robin tournament was played between the teams, with the top ranked team winning the championship.
Best player selected by the Directorate
| Position | Player | |
|---|---|---|
| Goaltender | Patricia Sautter | |
| Defenceman | Pernilla Burholm | |
| Forward | Sanna Lankosaari |
| Position | Player |
|---|---|
| Goaltender | Irina Gashennikova |
| Defenceman | Johanna Ikonen |
| Anne Haanpää | |
| Forward | Åsa Elfving |
| Yekaterina Pashkevich | |
| Sanna Lankosaari |
List shows the top skaters sorted by points, then goals.
| Player | GP | G | A | Pts | POS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 6 | 3 | 9 | F | ||
| 5 | 7 | 1 | 8 | F | ||
| 5 | 7 | 0 | 7 | F | ||
| 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | F | ||
| 5 | 3 | 4 | 7 | F | ||
| 5 | 4 | 2 | 6 | F | ||
| 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | D | ||
| 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | F |
| Tourney Name: | IIHF European Women's Championship |
| Year: | 1996 |
| Other Titles: | Pool B |
| Country: | Slovakia |
| Dates: | 12–16 March |
| Num Teams: | 8 |
| Venues: | 2 |
| Cities: | 2 |
| Type: | ihw |
| Winners: | Denmark |
| Second: | LAT |
| Third: | CZE |
| Fourth: | SVK |
| Count: | 2 |
| Games: | 16 |
| Goals: | 103 |
| Attendance: | 13225 |
| Scoring Leader: | Marion Pepels (5+4=9) |
The eight teams that competed in Pool B were:
Kazakhstan replaced Ukraine after they withdrew from the competition.
The teams were split into two groups of four teams as below. At the end of the group stage, the teams would play the team that finished in the same position in the opposite group in a playoff match, i.e. Winner of Group A played Winner of Group B for the Gold Medal.
| Rk. | Team | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Qualified for the 1997 World Championships | |||
| Qualified for the 1997 World Championships | |||
| Qualified for the 1997 World Championships | |||
| 4. | Qualified for the 1997 World Championships | ||
| 5. | Qualified for the 1997 World Championships | ||
| 6. | Qualified for the 1999 World Championships Qualification Tournament | ||
| 7. | Qualified for the 1999 World Championships Qualification Tournament | ||
| 8. | Qualified for the 1999 World Championships Qualification Tournament | ||
| 9. | Qualified for the 1999 World Championships Pre-Qualification Tournament | ||
| 10. | Qualified for the 1999 World Championships Pre-Qualification Tournament | ||
| 11. | Qualified for the 1999 World Championships Pre-Qualification Tournament | ||
| 12. | Qualified for the 1999 World Championships Pre-Qualification Tournament | ||
| 13. | Qualified for the 2000 World Championships Pool B Qualification Tournament | ||
| 14. | Qualified for the 2000 World Championships Pool B Qualification Tournament |