The event took place from 22 September to 1 October 2017 in Pau, France under the auspices of International Canoe Federation (ICF) at the Pau-Pyrénées Whitewater Stadium.
Pau was also hosting the Wildwater Canoeing World Championships as part of the same event.
A non-olympic event must have participants from at least 6 countries to be counted as a world championship.
[3] A brand new medal event was the Extreme K1 which has been part of the World Cup program since 2016.
The Mixed C2 event returned to the world championships after a 36-year absence.