Four-time Scotties champion Kerri Einarson will lead Team Canada into the 2026 Scotties Tournament of Hearts after round-robin pools and the full schedule were finalized for the national women’s curling championship in Mississauga, Ont.
The 18-team event runs Jan. 23 to Feb. 1 at the Paramount Fine Foods Centre, with opening draw set for Friday, Jan. 23 at 7 p.m. ET. Einarson’s Gimli, rink assumes the Team Canada berth after 2025 champions Rachel Homan and her Ottawa-based team turned their focus to representing Canada at the Winter Olympics in Italy. Einarson finished runner-up at last year’s Scotties in Thunder Bay.
Teams will be split into two pools and play a complete eight-game round robin. The top three teams in each pool advance to the playoffs, with no tiebreaker games. Head-to-head results will determine ties, followed by Last-Shot Draw rankings if required.
Under the playoff format, first place in one pool faces second place from the other on Jan. 30, with winners advancing directly to the Page 1–2 game. The championship concludes Sunday, Feb. 1, with the winner earning the right to represent Canada at the 2026 BKT World Women’s Curling Championship in Calgary.
Einarson’s Team Canada rink is seeded first in Pool A, which also includes Manitoba’s Kaitlyn Lawes-led entry and provincial champions from British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia, among others. Pool B features top CTRS qualifiers Kayla Skrlik of Calgary and Christina Black of Halifax, along with Manitoba champion Beth Peterson and seven additional provincial and territorial teams.
More than 20 players will make their Scotties debut in Mississauga, adding a mix of emerging talent to a field anchored by Einarson and several familiar championship contenders.
