Team Gushue lineup change puts Canadian curling residency rules back in spotlight

The long-simmering Canadian curling residency issue has been raised to the front burner once again after a quadrennial that saw Canada largely come up short at major international four-player team events.

A fresh wrinkle came this week with Team Brad Gushue's announcement that E.J. Harnden would join the St. John's-based rink at second to replace Brett Gallant after his departure to join the Alberta-based Team Brendan Bottcher.

Harnden's addition created a residency issue for the world's top-ranked team since he's based in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont. In order to satisfy current residency rules, Gushue said that lead Geoff Walker would become a resident of Newfoundland and Labrador.

"It's extra work and it's an extra challenge," Gushue said on a video conference call. "I think going forward that's something that needs to be addressed from a countrywide standpoint [to] allow Canada to make sure that we're developing the best teams."

Under the current structure, teams are allowed one "free agent" from outside their province or territory. A birthright status option was added in 2019 to allow athletes to represent the province or territory where they were born if they live outside of those borders.

Gushue and third Mark Nichols live in the St. John's area while Walker is based in Edmonton.

Specifics on Walker's residency plans for Newfoundland and Labrador weren't discussed during a 15-minute availability Wednesday afternoon. He was the lone team member not on the call.

Exemptions to residency rules may be made in exceptional circumstances, per Curling Canada rules, which state "an individual must spend the majority of their non-compete time in the province/territory in which they are claiming to be a bona fide resident."

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