The Scotties Tournament of Hearts ( French : Le Tournoi des Cœurs Scotties ; commonly referred to as the Scotties ) is the annual Canadian women's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada , formerly called the Canadian Curling Association. The winner goes on to represent Canada at the women's world curling championships . Since 1985, the winner also gets to return to the following year's tournament as "Team Canada". It is formally known as the "Canadian Women's Curling Championship".
31-439: The Sandra Schmirler Most Valuable Player Award is awarded to the top player in the playoff round of the annual Scotties Tournament of Hearts . The winner is selected by members of the media, and is awarded at the victory banquet held after the final game of the bonspiel . The top player at the tournament has been recognized since 1997, when Marcia Gudereit won the award. After Sandra Schmirler 's death at 36 due to cancer ,
62-649: A wave of mall renovations in many parts of the country. Alberta stores were acquired by Safeway in the late 1960s. Much of the remainder of the chain in eastern and central Canada was ultimately acquired by Loblaw Companies , through several unrelated transactions: In 1985, during the chain's breakup, the Argus-controlled Dominion Stores Ltd.—renamed Domgroup Ltd. in April 1986—withdrew $ 37.9 million from its defined benefit pension plan for Canadian employees. The amount represented an actuarial surplus in
93-535: Is awarded by the media to the most valuable player during the playoffs at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts. The 2023 winner was Kerri Einarson of Team Canada. The Shot of the Week Award is presented by the organizing committee to the player who makes the most outstanding shot during the tournament. The award has not been presented since 2013. The Marj Mitchell Sportsmanship Award is awarded annually to
124-483: The Ontario Supreme Court of Justice ordered Domgroup to return the money to the plan, stating in his judgment that Dominion "had no right, under the plan documents, to remove the surplus". Domgroup eventually reached a settlement with the union to withdraw a portion of the surplus. A&P placed the stores it acquired in 1985 under a subsidiary named New Dominion Stores Inc., and initially operated them under
155-594: The "New Dominion" name (later adjusting the branding to "Super Dominion"). During a one-year transition period, these stores co-existed in Ontario with the "old" Dominion stores that Argus hadn't sold to A&P, causing customer confusion. At one point during this period, the head of A&P Canada said he called Black personally to ensure the Argus-owned stores' marketing abided by the sale contract, as some ads had referenced those stores still being Canadian-owned (whereas A&P
186-527: The 1950s that a higher level of women's curling began to occur. At this time there was a Western Canada Women's Curling Championship (sponsored by the T. Eaton Company ) but no tournament existed for the eastern provinces. By 1959, Eaton's pulled their sponsorship, giving the organizers of the Western championships an initiative to have a national championship. In 1960, the Canadian Ladies' Curling Association
217-492: The 1979 event was the first tournament to feature a playoff. Before then, the championship team was the one with the best round robin record. Robin Wilson , a member of the 1979 championship team, and a former employee of Scott Paper led an effort to get the company to sponsor the championships. It was successful, and in 1982 the first Scott Tournament of Hearts was held. The Scott Tournament of Hearts would last 25 years, and saw
248-539: The A&;P banner, and others were sold to third parties. A&P's Canadian division was later acquired by Metro Inc. , which rebranded the remaining Dominion stores to its namesake banner in 2008. Dominion started from one Toronto store on May 23, 1919. The store was founded by American businessmen Robert Jackson of New Hampshire and William J. Pentland of Connecticut. Pentland was manager of A&P stores in Connecticut and
279-509: The A&P or Food Basics name. The territory of Dominion stores was approximately the following: Toronto ; York Region , excluding Stouffville ; Mississauga and Oakville ; and Pickering and Ajax . Metro, which had operated solely in Quebec and the Ottawa area, acquired A&P Canada from the U.S.-based parent company effective August 15, 2005. A&P retained a minority ownership share of
310-659: The Argus Corporation. Moving the Dominion holdings into the Hollinger Inc. portion of Argus, Dominion was stripped of cash from the daily flow. A&P's Canadian division, A&P Canada , acquired 92 of Dominion's prime locations in Ontario, as well as a head office, warehouses, and rights to the Dominion name from Hollinger in 1985, the final year of Black's sell off of virtually all previous holdings of Argus Corporation. The chain's remaining assets were sold piecemeal over
341-627: The anti-tobacco policies of the Canadian Government , the Macdonald Tobacco Company pulled their sponsorship from both the Brier and the Women's championship. The Canadian Ladies' Curling Association ran the tournament without a main sponsor again for the next couple of years. 1979 also marked the first year of the Women's World Curling Championship , where the national champion would play. Also,
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#1732904729439372-666: The award once while representing her home province of British Columbia and the next year playing as Team Canada as the reigning champion, while Jennifer Jones won it while representing Manitoba in 2015 and 2018, and representing Team Canada in 2009. Homan won her first MVP award after successfully defending her Scotties championship in 2014, then winning again representing Ontario in 2017. Carey won both of her MVP awards while representing Alberta . Einarson won her first MVP with her first Scotties title representing Manitoba in 2020, then defended both as Team Canada in 2021, 2022, and 2023. Scotties Tournament of Hearts Since 1982,
403-497: The award was renamed starting in 2001. The current holder of the Schmirler Award is Kerri Einarson of Team Canada. Kerri Einarson has won the Schmirler Award four times, the most of any woman. Colleen Jones , Kelly Scott , Jennifer Jones , Rachel Homan , and Chelsea Carey are the only other women who have won the award more than once. Colleen Jones won all three of her MVP awards while playing as Team Canada. Scott won
434-524: The best-of-three series two games to none. The games between the two teams were played in Oshawa , Ontario . The following year a tournament was organized with the same format as the Brier and was held in Ottawa . McKee won again, with a new front end of Barbara MacNevin and Rosa McFee . In 1967, Dominion Stores were unable to reach a compromise with the organizers of the tournament, and their sponsorship fell. The Canadian Ladies' Curling Association ran
465-498: The field to twelve. In 2021, a new 18-team format was introduced, in which all 14 member associations of Curling Canada field a team in a main draw of two pools, alongside the defending champions, and the three highest-ranked teams on the Canadian Team Ranking System standings that did not win their provincial championships. The teams are separated into two pools of nine, each playing a round-robin within their pool, with
496-567: The four-heart design of the Tournament of Hearts logo, set with a .25-carat diamond. The runners-up receive the same rings, with rubies instead of diamonds, and the third-place team receives gold rings set with emeralds. Starting with the 2024 tournament , the first all-star team was entitled the Robin Wilson First All-Star Team . As of the 2024 Scotties Tournament of Hearts The Sandra Schmirler Most Valuable Player Award
527-1071: The growth and development of women's curling in Canada. It has been awarded annually since 2001. Winners Robin Wilson First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Second Team First Team Dominion Stores (Ontario) Dominion
558-768: The likes of many great teams. The first Tournament of Hearts was won by Colleen Jones and her Nova Scotia team. It would take her 17 years to win another, but she would cap it off with another four championships for a grand total of six championships. In 2018, Colleen Jones' feat of six championships was equaled by Manitoba's Jennifer Jones . Other great curlers at the Hearts have been Kerri Einarson and Connie Laliberte of Manitoba, Heather Houston , Marilyn Bodogh and Rachel Homan of Ontario, Vera Pezer and Sandra Schmirler of Saskatchewan, Cathy Borst , Shannon Kleibrink and Chelsea Carey of Alberta and Lindsay Sparkes and Kelly Scott of British Columbia. The new sponsorship made
589-532: The most sportsmanlike curler at the Tournament of Hearts every year. The award has been presented since 1982, and has been named in Mitchell's honour since 1998. In 2024, the Marj Mitchell Sportsmanship Award was presented to Danielle Inglis of Ontario. The Joan Mead Builder Award, named after CBC producer Joan Mead, goes to someone in the curling community that significantly contributes to
620-556: The next two years. In northwestern Ontario , Safeway acquired at least two stores in Thunder Bay . (Safeway's presence in Thunder Bay prevents Metro from offering Air Miles at its Thunder Bay locations.) In Western Canada , Dominion stores were closed, leaving many suburban shopping malls scrambling to fill large, now-vacant sections. This event, coupled with the subsequent collapse of several department store chains, sparked
651-592: The plan, and Dominion had approval from the provincial regulator, the Pension Commission of Ontario (a predecessor entity to the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario ) to make the withdrawal. However, the right to make that withdrawal was challenged by the union representing the employees, the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union . In September 1986, Justice Robert Reid of
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#1732904729439682-660: The top three teams in each pool advancing to a second round to determine the final four teams. At the end of the second round, playoffs occur to determine the championship winner. The system used is known as the Page playoff system . 1913 marked a significant point in women's curling when both the Manitoba Bonspiel and the Ontario Curling Association began holding women's curling events. Other provinces would later add provincial women's championships, but it wasn't until
713-533: The tournament by themselves with no main sponsor. Sylvia Fedoruk , after assuming the presidency of the Canadian Ladies' Curling Association found a title sponsor in the Macdonald Tobacco Company , the same sponsor as the Brier. Their sponsorship began in 1972 with the tournament being called the "Macdonald Lassie" championship, after the company's trademark. In 1979, under increasing pressure from
744-612: The tournament has been sponsored by Kruger Products, which was formerly known as Scott Paper Limited when it was a Canadian subsidiary of Scott Paper Company . As such, the tournament was formerly known as the Scott Tournament of Hearts ; when Kimberly-Clark merged with Scott, the Canadian arm was sold to the Quebec-based Kruger Inc. – while Kruger was granted a license to use several Scott brands in Canada until June 2007, it
775-461: The tournament popular when it began to be televised. Today, TSN covers the entire tournament. CBC had covered the semi-finals and the finals up until the 2007–08 season. In 2013, Sportsnet and Citytv began to offer coverage of the finals of the provincial playdowns in Manitoba, Ontario, and Alberta as well. As a Tournament of Hearts tradition, the members of the winning team receive gold rings in
806-636: Was a national chain of supermarkets in Canada, which was known as the Dominion of Canada when the chain was founded. The chain was founded in 1919 in Ontario and was later acquired by the Argus Corporation . It was broken up in the mid-1980s, with key locations and the rights to the brand sold to The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (A&P), which restricted the chain to the Greater Toronto Area . Stores elsewhere in Ontario were converted to
837-463: Was based in the U.S. and controlled by Germany's Tengelmann Group ). Most of the remaining "old" Dominion stores ultimately closed in early 1986, ahead of A&P gaining exclusive rights to the name on April 30. Beginning a few months after the acquisition, and continuing into the 1990s, A&P rebranded all of its stores in the Greater Toronto Area as Dominion stores, absorbing Miracle Food Mart , while Dominion locations elsewhere in Ontario took
868-433: Was created with Dominion Stores Ltd. seeking to sponsor a national championship. That year, an eastern championship occurred so that the winner could play the winner of the western championship in an invitational event. In this event , Ruth Smith and her team from Lacolle, Quebec faced off against Joyce McKee 's team from Saskatchewan (consisting of Sylvia Fedoruk , Donna Belding and Muriel Coben ) with McKee winning
899-463: Was given a long-term license to the Scotties brand because Kimberly-Clark already owned Kleenex . As such, the tournament was officially renamed the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 2007. Until 2018, the format was a round robin of 12 teams. Starting with the 2015 Scotties Tournament of Hearts there have been more than twelve eligible teams; therefore a pre-qualification tournament was held to trim
930-505: Was hired by Jackson. By the end of 1919, they had a 20-store chain of which 18 were acquired from rival Loblaws . A year later, they had 61 stores. In 1929, Dominion tried to acquire a stake in Loblaws, but the stock market crash ended the growth. During the Depression, Dominion lost both founders: Jackson went bankrupt and Pentland was killed in an auto accident in 1933. Dominion's leadership
961-450: Was not resolved until 1939, when J. William Horsey became president. He in turn sold Dominion Stores to Argus Corporation . Smaller stores were consolidated from 574 to 195 by 1954. In the 1950s, Dominion began to build large stores with airy ceilings and large glass fronts. The chain also expanded beyond Toronto to other parts of Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Atlantic Canada. In 1978, Conrad Black took control of