Thunder Bay to host Scotties Tournament of Hearts in 2025

THUNDER BAY, Ont. — Thunder Bay will host the 2025 Scotties Tournament of Hearts after the northwestern Ontario city had two previous attempts at hosting the Canadian women's curling championship impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The championship will run Feb. 14-23, 2025, at Fort William Gardens.

Thunder Bay was initially awarded the 2021 tournament, but pandemic restrictions saw the event shifted to Calgary's curling bubble in exchange for the right for Thunder Bay to host in 2022.

A surge in COVID cases in the winter of 2022 due to the Omicron variant, however, meant the championship was contested in a mostly empty building.

A few hundred volunteers, junior curlers and family members were admitted during closing weekend to watch Team Canada, skipped by Kerri Einarson, win its third consecutive title by defeating Thunder Bay’s Krista McCarville in the gold-medal game.

The 2024 Canadian women's championship will be held in Calgary, where Einarson will go for a fifth straight title.

The 2025 event will be the sixth time the Canadian women’s curling championship has been hosted by the Northern Ontario Curling Association.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 3, 2023.