Kerri Einarson’s rink gets Team Canada entry at Scotties

With Team Rachel Homan preparing for the Milan-Cortina Olympics, Team Kerri Einarson will wear Canada colours at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts next month in Mississauga, Ont.

Homan, who won a second straight Scotties crown last season, will not return to defend her title, Curling Canada said Tuesday in a statement. Einarson will instead assume the title of Team Canada at the Jan. 23-Feb. 1 playdowns since her team took silver at the 2025 national playdowns.

“We are thrilled to be wearing the (Maple Leaf) at the Scotties! It’s always an honour to represent (Canada) and we’re excited to compete in Mississauga soon,” the team posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

Einarson, a four-time Scotties champion from Gimli, Man., and teammates Val Sweeting, Shannon Birchard and Karlee Burgess had already earned one of three pre-qualification berths for the Scotties based on last season’s rankings.

The vacated pre-qualification spot will go to the highest-ranked team that doesn’t qualify via this season’s provincial/territorial playdowns, Curling Canada said.

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Homan’s side of Tracy Fleury, Emma Miskew and Sarah Wilkes defeated Christina Black’s Halifax team 2-0 in a best-of-three final last week at the Montana’s Canadian Curling Trials. Black beat Einarson in the semifinal.

The withdrawal of the Homan team comes as a blow for the event at Paramount Fine Foods Centre.

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The 36-year-old skip from Ottawa was featured in promotions ahead of the competition and her team is ranked No. 1 in the world. The 18-team event is being held in the Greater Toronto Area for the first time.

The last time the national women’s championship was held in the region was in 2017 when St. Catharines, Ont., served as host. Homan won the second of her five career Scotties titles that year.

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The Scotties field will also include 14 provincial and territorial representatives. Black and Team Kayla Skrlik of Calgary have the other pre-qualification berths.

There are plans for Canadian curling training camps in Europe ahead of the Feb. 4-22 Winter Olympics. The women’s schedule kicks off Feb. 12 at the Cortina Curling Olympic Stadium, 11 days after the completion of the Scotties.

Brett Gallant and Jocelyn Peterman will represent Canada in the mixed doubles discipline, which begins Feb. 4.

Gallant’s men’s team, which includes skip Brad Jacobs, Marc Kennedy and Ben Hebert, will open play Feb. 11. The Calgary-based team earned the spot after defeating Matt Dunstone’s Winnipeg side 2-0 in the best-of-three Trials final.

Team Jacobs won the Montana’s Brier last year and is slated to return as the Canadian entry at the 2026 playdowns in St. John’s, N.L. Teams skipped by Dunstone, local favourite Brad Gushue and Saskatoon’s Mike McEwen have pre-qualified.

The Brier begins Feb. 27, six days after the final men’s game at the Olympics.