2025-2026 Canadian Figure Skating

[4everchan]

Hello all !

Just some info for those following competition threads.

In a couple weeks, there will be the last competition in the "summer/fall" category (Ontario).

However, all the sectionals are also about to happen from October 30 to November 9.

You will not find these threads in the summer/fall events, rather in the Canadian Nationals sub-section of the forum :

2026 Canadian Nationals

Jan 6-11, 2026 Quebec, QC, Canada ☰ Entries | 🏆Skate Picks TBA

www.goldenskate.com

There are six events (unless I have forgotten one, please let me know). BC/Yukon, Alberta,/NT/NU, SK, MN, ON, and QC.

When all of these events are completed, we will know who will be selected to compete at the Skate Canada Challenge at the end of November.

Sectionals are important as they confirm who intends to compete for the big event... it confirms things like "which country will Minsol Kwon skate for or not?" for instance. It confirms also in which category skaters will compete domestically. For instance, both Anthony and Edward will compete in the Senior men in QC sectionals.

Feel free to discuss entries from Sectionals as they come along. Some sections have already posted theirs, some are partial, some are quite advanced.

For instance : QC : Senior Pairs. Only 4 teams are registered

Laurin-Éthier
Graves -Pierro
Secunda-Ferland
Stellato-Dudek - Deschamps

I don't see Bombardier-Mimar and they were supposed to represent QC section from now on.

@saine is the "bye" specialist... maybe they will have a medical bye (they are injured I think).

Of course, some teams will also w/d because they will get byes as GP or Challenger competitors.

In any case, feel free to visit the Canadian Nationals sub-forum where you can discuss each section's entries, and in due time, watch the streams and discuss results.

 

[saine]

Since I've been mentioned as the "bye" specialist, I have my 2025-26 Canadian Junior/Senior Bye Tracker

It's updated as soon as byes come in or are changed based on public information and it is primarily based on entry lists. I also track how many entries are available for Challenge and Nationals. I also include what CTES minimums that the skaters currently have.

I don't see Bombardier-Mimar and they were supposed to represent QC section from now on.

@saine is the "bye" specialist... maybe they will have a medical bye (they are injured I think).

They should have a bye to Nationals based on their initial GP assignment. Even when they have a bye, Quebec requires that they register for sectionals even if they aren't competing at them. I have them as Quebec, but they also train in Ontario so I'm waiting for those entries to come out.

 

[4everchan]

Since I've been mentioned as the "bye" specialist, I have my 2025-26 Canadian Junior/Senior Bye Tracker

It's updated as soon as byes come in or are changed based on public information and it is primarily based on entry lists. I also track how many entries are available for Challenge and Nationals. I also include what CTES minimums that the skaters currently have.


They should have a bye to Nationals based on their initial GP assignment. Even when they have a bye, Quebec requires that they register for sectionals even if they aren't competing at them. I have them as Quebec, but they also train in Ontario so I'm waiting for those entries to come out.

Would you like to open a thread about byes/entries in the Canadian Nationals sub-forum ? There may be some interesting discussions to be had

 

[saine]

Would you like to open a thread about byes/entries in the Canadian Nationals sub-forum ? There may be some interesting discussions to be had

I can when I get home.

I can also start one once the championship selection criteria comes out later, only the Olympics are out right now. I'm sure there will be spirited discussion for it.

 

[saine]

Interview with Gogolev after his Nebelhorn win:

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/winter/figure-skating/stephen-gogolev-figure-skater-canada-healthy-olympics-1.7652243

 

[Cutting the ice]

So good to see Gogolev come back. I hope his improvement continues. With winning Nebelhorn, is he high on the list for another GP spot if one becomes available?

It will be interesting to see how Roman responds to this challenge.

 

[saine]

So good to see Gogolev come back. I hope his improvement continues. With winning Nebelhorn, is he high on the list for another GP spot if one becomes available?

It will be interesting to see how Roman responds to this challenge.

He's officially the first alternate on the ISU list, so he should get another GP spot.

It would be hilarious if it ends up being Finlandia, that would make it his fourth international head-to-head with Roman this season.

 

[Skater Boy]

It is with great anticipation that the "grand prix" season starts for Canada and the world. I so want to see a resureance of Canada in the Olympic Team event. I think the men are coming alive and certainly will do better than last olympics which was an unmitigated disaster. The ladies wil be hard as Madi did so well as time but she has been struggling. It is grea to see Dupuis, Spence and Ruiter showingpromise and makes for a very competitive Nationals. Practically though one of them needs to make their mark internationally if they want th epcs. Piper and Paul we have not seen. They have a lot more competition now with Guillaume and Lawrence, the Shibsibs - maybe, the Spanish te and Italy I expect will be more competitive in their home nation. As for pairs Max and Deanna really need to step up their game as they have clearly slipped behind the Japanese, Germany and Probably China and Georgia and the top Italians. I note they don't get great pcs when they make errors like other top teams. I really want to see that grit to pull them on to the podium but without stronger showingindiivdually it will be hard to beat France , Ilay and Georgia for bronze.

 

[4everchan]

The team event is an interesting topic but I feel it's too soon to really evaluate Canada's chances.

For instance, and that goes for every country, Piper and Paul or Sui Han, if they make it, or Chock and Bates or RR may decide not to skate in the team event. Why would Cizeron do it, unless he wants to get a chance to earn even more PCS.. but with their pairs and women, I don't think they do have the same shot as Italy or Georgia. So the point here is, all will come to who is participating as during the team event, it's all about ranking points. It can make or break a score as we saw in 2022 when Keegan wasn't able to participate. But not only did that lower Canada's chances but it gave more points to some other skaters who may have placed lower than Keegan etc etc... So yes, on paper, it looks like the USA have the team gold in the bag. Their weakest discipline is pairs but they have world champions in all other 3 disciplines. Japan surely looks like they can win silver with their strong pairs and single skaters. Their dance team will be at the bottom of the ranking but will still make enough points in the final 5 show-down. (that scoring system is just so unfair imho) So, yes, Italy and Georgia seem ahead of Canada but at the same time, who knows what will happen. Russia was ahead of Canada in 2018 and exceptional performances from our skaters, combined to a poor showing by their man, resulted in an easy win for Canada.

So, I'd suggest to wait and see who will participate in the team event because it has happened every time that some skaters didn't want to take part or only participate in one program... which can really play with the ranking points.

 

[saine]

Icechallenge entries from the International Assignments page:

Senior Men
Grayson Long
Keegan Messing

Senior Women
Kaiya Ruiter
Gabrielle Daleman

Senior Pairs
Kemp/Elizarov
Desrochers/Thrasher

Senior Ice Dance
Fournier/Zhu
Nguyen/Giang

Junior Men
William Chan

Junior Women
Sandrine Blais
Megan Woodley
Hetty Shi
Quinn Startek

Junior Ice Dance
Briere/Levesque

 

[Cutting the ice]

So glad to see that. Skate Canada is stepping up with assignments and giving our "B" and "C" team a chance for international experience. Hopefully the skaters will take advantage and get 4CC / Worlds minimums, particularly for pairs.

 

[FlossieH]

The team event is an interesting topic but I feel it's too soon to really evaluate Canada's chances.

For instance, and that goes for every country, Piper and Paul or Sui Han, if they make it, or Chock and Bates or RR may decide not to skate in the team event. Why would Cizeron do it, unless he wants to get a chance to earn even more PCS.. but with their pairs and women, I don't think they do have the same shot as Italy or Georgia. So the point here is, all will come to who is participating as during the team event, it's all about ranking points. It can make or break a score as we saw in 2022 when Keegan wasn't able to participate. But not only did that lower Canada's chances but it gave more points to some other skaters who may have placed lower than Keegan etc etc... So yes, on paper, it looks like the USA have the team gold in the bag. Their weakest discipline is pairs but they have world champions in all other 3 disciplines. Japan surely looks like they can win silver with their strong pairs and single skaters. Their dance team will be at the bottom of the ranking but will still make enough points in the final 5 show-down. (that scoring system is just so unfair imho) So, yes, Italy and Georgia seem ahead of Canada but at the same time, who knows what will happen. Russia was ahead of Canada in 2018 and exceptional performances from our skaters, combined to a poor showing by their man, resulted in an easy win for Canada.

So, I'd suggest to wait and see who will participate in the team event because it has happened every time that some skaters didn't want to take part or only participate in one program... which can really play with the ranking points.

I can't work out who RR are?

If China sends Sui and Han to the Olympics, they will skate in the team event - unless China opts not to have a pair participate in the team competition. A country with one spot for a discipline has to use the same skater(s) in that discipline for both the team competition and the standard one. With one pairs spot, China cannot take one pair for the team competition and a different pair for the standard competition.

The USA and Japan should be pretty much guaranteed the FP in the team event. However, only three out of Canada, France, Georgia and Italy are likely to make it. (China has an outside chance if two of those countries struggle with placements in the SP. I don't think GBR or Poland have any chance, and South Korea don't either unless they suddenly get a pairs team).

 

[4everchan]

I can't work out who RR are?

If China sends Sui and Han to the Olympics, they will skate in the team event - unless China opts not to have a pair participate in the team competition. A country with one spot for a discipline has to use the same skater(s) in that discipline for both the team competition and the standard one. With one pairs spot, China cannot take one pair for the team competition and a different pair for the standard competition.

The USA and Japan should be pretty much guaranteed the FP in the team event. However, only three out of Canada, France, Georgia and Italy are likely to make it. (China has an outside chance if two of those countries struggle with placements in the SP. I don't think GBR or Poland have any chance, and South Korea don't either unless they suddenly get a pairs team).

RR Riku. Ryuchi.
Yup about China. Aware of this, I meant it more for countries with more options.

 

[Weathergal]

I can't work out who RR are?

RR Riku. Ryuchi.

Took me a bit to work out who RR are as well.

I agree it seems a bit early to talk about the team event, especially since the GP hasn't even started yet. As an example. although Kévin Aymoz is a beautiful skater, I can't imagine France would have wanted to rely on him in the Team event if it took place in the past few seasons. But this season, he's having a much stronger start than Adam Siao Him Fa so...who knows? There's still so much that can happen in skating. Bringing it back to Canada, who would have guessed that Roman and Stephen would have started out the season so well to give Keegan a run for his money?

 

[RatedPG]

Icechallenge entries from the International Assignments page:

Senior Men
Grayson Long
Keegan Messing

Senior Women
Kaiya Ruiter
Gabrielle Daleman

Senior Pairs
Kemp/Elizarov
Desrochers/Thrasher

Senior Ice Dance
Fournier/Zhu
Nguyen/Giang

Junior Men
William Chan

Junior Women
Sandrine Blais
Megan Woodley
Hetty Shi
Quinn Startek

Junior Ice Dance
Briere/Levesque

What an amazing update!!
I’m jumping up and down

All Senior categories are perfection!!
Juniors - Quinn Startek!!! Wow

Perfect selections!! Canada gets an A+. Not one mistake on any of the categories

 

[4everchan]

I am still hoping Fée Ann would get something but at the same time, we haven't seen her much lately... w/d from her last event... Injury? Sigh. This sport is cruel.

 

[HeadBanger]

It is with great anticipation that the "grand prix" season starts for Canada and the world. I so want to see a resureance of Canada in the Olympic Team event. I think the men are coming alive and certainly will do better than last olympics which was an unmitigated disaster. The ladies wil be hard as Madi did so well as time but she has been struggling. It is grea to see Dupuis, Spence and Ruiter showingpromise and makes for a very competitive Nationals. Practically though one of them needs to make their mark internationally if they want th epcs. Piper and Paul we have not seen. They have a lot more competition now with Guillaume and Lawrence, the Shibsibs - maybe, the Spanish te and Italy I expect will be more competitive in their home nation. As for pairs Max and Deanna really need to step up their game as they have clearly slipped behind the Japanese, Germany and Probably China and Georgia and the top Italians. I note they don't get great pcs when they make errors like other top teams. I really want to see that grit to pull them on to the podium but without stronger showingindiivdually it will be hard to beat France , Ilay and Georgia for bronze.

US and Japan have gold and silver wrapped up (though hopefully they'll make it interesting with each other). It'll be an interesting battle for bronze. Hopefully anyway. Italy looks like the have the inside edge, but Canada and Georgia could both contend. After all, ice is slippery, and strange things happen at the Olympics.

It'll come down to getting solid skates, especially in the short, and particularly from the singles. If Canada can do that, they have a chance... especially if Italy stumbles in one or two of those. We just won't have much if any room for error.

If I had to game it out now

Ice Dance - Canada and Italy will be fighting for 2nd and 3rd, so will come down to how the judges fell, we could be anywhere from +2 places to -2 places... call it a wash. This could be what sinks Georgia's chances, but then again, who knows with ice dance judging

Pairs - Canada/Italy/Georgia are all close here fighting for 2nd thru 4th, and US could even get between and cause more chaos. Could be anywhere from +4 to -4 places depending how things shake out.

Womens - Another one where Canada/Italy/Georgia are all kinda in the same range and somewhat inconsistent, as could be a number of other countries in the short, so that is really the dangerzone. A strong short and squeaking out every placement point will be vital. We could make up a couple points here or lose a dozen

Men - Very similar to the women, except we're noticeably weaker than Italy and Georgia. Another skate like Sadovsky in Beijing, and there is no coming back for us, we cannot make up enough points elsewhere to get on the podium. We need to stay within a placement of Italy by hook or by crook.

The big difference between now and 2022 is Italy is noticeably stronger (and will have home ice, whatever that is worth). But if one of their singles faulters in the short, it opens the window. If they don't, we're gonna have to be lights out across the board.

 

[RatedPG]

I am still hoping Fée Ann would get something but at the same time, we haven't seen her much lately... w/d from her last event... Injury? Sigh. This sport is cruel.

I know. I miss her not being on the list. But, she 1) didn’t earn a spot and 2) might be injured
So, nothing Skate Canada can do about her situation.

The senior athletes are intriguing to me. Canada is setting up their new “senior skaters” well for the next Olympic cycle.
Grayson, new TCC Kaiya, and the two new pairs for potential 4CC spots. These four need more exposure to the big Senior events and I hope to see all four at 4CC. Perfect way to get experience heading to their 2026-2027 senior seasons.

I wonder if the experienced skaters: Gabrielle and Keegan don’t make the Olympics, but podium at Nationals, if they will just bypass 4CC. It seems like they just are competing this season solely for the Olympics

 

[4everchan]

I know. I miss her not being on the list. But, she 1) didn’t earn a spot and 2) might be injured
So, nothing Skate Canada can do about her situation.

I agree. I just miss her

The senior athletes are intriguing to me. Canada is setting up their new “senior skaters” well for the next Olympic cycle.
Grayson, new TCC Kaiya, and the two new pairs for potential 4CC spots. These four need more exposure to the big Senior events and I hope to see all four at 4CC. Perfect way to get experience heading to their 2026-2027 senior seasons.

next should be bondar, paradis and vasii

I wonder if the experienced skaters: Gabrielle and Keegan don’t make the Olympics, but podium at Nationals, if they will just bypass 4CC. It seems like they just are competing this season solely for the Olympics

maybe gabby may entertain going to 4cc but I doubt Keegan would.

 

[saine]

next should be bondar, paradis and vasii

Warsaw Cup That one has a free stream, and if they could assign Sara-Maude there it would be helpful for my budget