Some familiar faces have secured early berths in the 2027 national curling championships.
Three women's and three men's teams have pre-qualified for the Scotties Tournament of Hearts and Montana's Brier, respectively, Curling Canada announced Wednesday.
Reigning champions Team Kerri Einarson and Team Matt Dunstone of Manitoba will be Team Canada at their respective events.
The other pre-qualified teams are based on the 2025-26 Canadian Team Ranking System. Teams need to have at least three returning players to be eligible.
Team Rachel Homan (Ontario), reigning Olympic bronze medallists, and Team Taylor Reese-Hansen (B.C.) have clinched their berths in the Scotties.
Team Brad Jacobs (Alberta), reigning Olympic gold medallists, and Team Tyler Tardi (Saskatchewan) get the Brier spots. Tardi joined Team McEwen, replacing Mike McEwen as skip this off-season. The old McEwen squad clinched the spot, sending Tardi to the nationals.
Each event features the reigning champions and the top three finishers on the previous season’s CTRS, but when the CTRS teams don’t meet the three-of-four player requirement, they surrender their berths.
That means the fourth pre-qualified teams will be the top-ranked teams on the 2026-27 CTRS that don't qualify through their respective provincial/territorial playdowns.
The 2027 Scotties runs Feb. 12-21 in Charlottetown, while the Brier is Feb. 26-March 7 in Saskatoon.
