The 1996 World Junior Ice Hockey Championships (1996 WJHC) was the 20th edition of the Ice Hockey World Junior Championship, hosted in Massachusetts, United States.

The tournament was won by Canada—defeating Sweden 4–1 in the gold-medal game—earning Canada their fourth straight gold medal and ninth overall, tying the Soviet team's record in both regards.

Among this edition of the tournament's future NHL stars were Milan Hejduk, Miikka Kiprusoff, Chris Drury, Marco Sturm, José Théodore, Mattias Öhlund, Daymond Langkow, Sergei Samsonov and tournament scoring leader Jarome Iginla.

(minimum 40% team's total ice time) The second tier was held in Sosnowiec and Tychy, Poland, from December 28 to January 4.

All scores carried forward except the results against the lone eliminated team from each group.