Ottawa hosting major curling event next year

The capital city of Canada will be able to host a world class curling event after all. 

Ottawa was set to host the 2021 World Men's Curling Championship, but that event was shifted to Calgary to be part of a bubble-concept series of events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The 2023 World Men’s Curling Championship will take place from April 1 until April 9 at TD Place, the World Curling Federation and Curling Canada announced on June 24. 

“We are looking forward to having the World Men’s Curling Championship 2023 in Canada’s capital city of Ottawa, Ontario,” said Kate Caithness, president of the World Curling Federation. “Following the relocation of the 2021 World Men’s Curling Championship from Ottawa to the Calgary bubble, I’m sure the local organizers are eager and ready to welcome the world to their beautiful city. We’re pleased that our ongoing partnership with Curling Canada continues to produce world class championships, where fans and curlers can enjoy great competition in a safe and memorable environment.”

It will be Canada’s 26th hosting of the World Men’s Curling Championship. Canadian men’s teams have won 35 world championships since the event’s inception in 1959 — the most recent coming with Team Brad Gushue’s gold medal in 2017 in Edmonton.

The Canadian team will be decided at the 2023 Tim Hortons Brier scheduled for March 3 until March 12 at Budweiser Gardens in London, Ontario. 

“Ottawa made it crystal clear to us that while they understood the decision that had to be made for the 2021 championship, they wanted this World Men’s Championship in their city as quickly as possible,” said Katherine Henderson, chief executive officer of Curling Canada. “Based on our past trips to Ottawa for Season of Champions events, I know the 2023 World Men’s Championship will be worth the wait and our capital will put on a world-class show.”

The World Men’s Curling Championship was most recently played in Ontario in 1996, when Canada’s Jeff Stoughton captured gold in Hamilton. Other Ontario-hosted men’s worlds saw Canada’s Ed Lukowich win in 1986 at Toronto, while Switzerland’s Jürg Tanner came out on top in London in 1981.

“I am thrilled that Ottawa will finally host the World Men’s Curling Championship at TD Place in 2023,” said Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson. “Canada’s capital has a proud history of successfully hosting major curling events, and we look forward to once again welcoming the world’s best curling talent and thousands of dedicated fans next year.”