Team Rachel Homan is gearing up for the Milan-Cortina Olympics, leaving Team Kerri Einarson to represent Canada at the upcoming Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Mississauga, Ontario. Homan, the reigning two-time Scotties champion, will not defend her title, as confirmed by Curling Canada. Einarson’s team, having secured silver at the 2025 national playdowns, will now carry the Team Canada banner at the Jan. 23-Feb. 1 competition.
Expressing their excitement, Einarson and her team, hailing from Gimli, Manitoba, including Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard, and Karlee Burgess, shared their honor in representing Canada at the Scotties on social media platform X. They had already clinched one of the three pre-qualification spots for the event based on last season’s rankings.
The vacant pre-qualification slot will be filled by the highest-ranked team not qualifying through this season’s provincial/territorial playdowns, as per Curling Canada. In a recent best-of-three final at the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials, Homan’s team, comprising Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew, and Sarah Wilkes, defeated Christina Black’s Halifax team 2-0, with Black having previously upset Einarson in the semifinal.
Homan’s absence is a setback for the upcoming event at Paramount Fine Foods Centre. The Ottawa skip, aged 36, was a key figure in event promotions and leads the world rankings with her team. This season marks the first time the 18-team Scotties Tournament of Hearts is being held in the Greater Toronto Area.
The national women’s championship was last held in the area in 2017 in St. Catharines, where Homan claimed her second of five Scotties titles. The Scotties field will feature 14 provincial and territorial representatives, with Black and Team Kayla Skrlik of Calgary also holding pre-qualification spots.
Preparations are underway for Canadian curling training camps in Europe ahead of the Winter Olympics scheduled from Feb. 4-22. The women’s curling competition will commence on Feb. 12 at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, following the completion of the Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
Additionally, Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman will represent Canada in the mixed doubles discipline starting on Feb. 4. Gallant’s men’s team, led by skip Brad Jacobs along with Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert, will kick off their campaign on Feb. 11. The squad secured their spot by triumphing over Matt Dunstone’s Winnipeg team in the Trials final.
Team Jacobs, the reigning Montana’s Brier champions, are set to represent Canada at the 2026 playdowns in St. John’s. Notably, teams led by Dunstone, Brad Gushue, and Mike McEwen have also pre-qualified for the event. The Brier is scheduled to begin on Feb. 27, six days after the conclusion of the men’s curling event at the Olympics.