Einarson rink anointed Canada’s team at Scotties with Homan preparing for Olympics

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.

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.

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.

Rachel Homan hoping 3rd time's the charm at Milano Cortina 2026

The last time the national women's championship was held in the region was in