Men's, women's and mixed doubles Olympic curling qualifiers coming to Nova Scotia

For Canada's top curlers the road to the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy will go through Nova Scotia.

Curling Canada announced Wednesday In Halifax that  three Olympic qualifiers will be played in Halifax, Liverpool and Wolfville.

The Canadian mixed doubles curling trials will be played Dec. 30, 2024 to Jan. 4, 2025, at Queens Place Emera Centre in Liverpool, N.S. The Canadian pre-trials, deciding the final qualifiers for the Canadian Curling Trials, will be played Oct. 21-26, 2025, at the Andrew H. McCain Arena in Wolfville, N.S. and the Canadian curling trials to decide Canada's men's and women's four-player Olympic teams will be played Nov. 22-30, 2025, at the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax.

"These three events are among the most important of any Olympic quadrennial in Canada and Canadian curling athletes focus intensely on them," said Danny Lamoureux, interim chief executive officer of Curling Canada. "Nova Scotia is home to a curling community and a provincial government that made it extremely apparent that these events were important to them and I know the province will do an outstanding job to make these events memorable for everyone."

Halifax and Liverpool have a history of hosting Curling Canada Olympic qualifying events. Halifax hosted the trials in 2005 while Liverpool played host to the 2021 pre-trials to decide the final entries into the 2021 Canadian Curling trials in Saskatoon.

It will be the first time Curling Canada has staged an event in Wolfville.

"The town of Wolfville is thrilled to host the 2025 men's and women's Canadian pre-trials, welcoming athletes with the East Coast hospitality we are known for in the valley," said Wolfville Mayor Wendy Donovan. "With an estimated economic impact of approximately $2 million, the pre-trials will leave a lasting legacy in our community and help to continue to build our major event hosting capacity."

Halifax also played host to the Brier in 2010, 2003 and 1995, as well as the 1992 Scotties Tournament of Hearts and the 2015 World Men's Curling Championship. Newfoundland curler Brad Gushue says curling fans in the province will be in for a treat.

"When we show up to play at the trials it's going to be the most intense high-level curling that you will ever watch," said Gushue, who won bronze at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing. "All of the top teams in this country right now are gearing up toward this event."

Gushue and Manitoba's Jennifer Jones won the last Canadian Curling Trials in 2021. Jones failed to reach the Olympic medal podium. The last time Canada won Olympic gold in men's curling was in 2014 when Brad Jacobs won while Jones won the women's title the same year.

Kaitlyn Lawes and John Morris won gold for Canada in mixed doubles in 2018.