Curling Canada clarifies eligibility 'grey area' in policy for defending Brier champs

Brad Gushue's team is back at the Tim Hortons Brier as defending champions. They'll have to change their residency situation or roster makeup next season if they need to qualify to return via provincial playdowns.

A successful title defence at Budweiser Gardens would ensure they come back as Team Canada but anything less would require some kind of an adjustment under current rules.

"It would be a situation where they were not residency compliant if they were to not win and had to represent Newfoundland [and Labrador] in the next year," said Curling Canada's Nolan Thiessen.

"Obviously they would have to do something different or make alternative plans or someone would have to move there to meet residency requirements next season."

Under current rules, only one import player is allowed per team. The others must be bona fide residents of the same province or territory or have birthright status.

However, Gushue's team has two players who are not based in Newfoundland and Labrador.

Gushue and vice Mark Nichols live in St. John's, but newcomer E.J. Harnden lives in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and lead Geoff Walker is an Edmonton resident.

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A Curling Canada clarification on the issue was provided in the competitor guide issued to teams before the Brier.

In a copy of the document seen by The Canadian Press, the national sport organization said a review found "there is not total clarity around residency requirements for Team Canada."

"In the case of Team Canada, they are no longer competing for their province/territory or entering said playdowns," the document said. "This 'grey area' in our policy has been highlighted that these teams are no longer nominated by their province or territory after