The John Shea Insurance Canada Cup Qualifier was an annual

curling Curling is a sport in which players slide stones on a sheet of ice toward a target area which is segmented into four concentric circles. It is related to bowls, boules, and shuffleboard. Two teams, each with four players, take turns sliding ...

bonspiel held at the

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

and

Rideau Curling Club The Rideau Curling Club is a curling facility and organization located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1888, the Rideau Curling Club maintains a rivalry with the Ottawa Curling Club. History The original club began operation in November, ...

s in

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. In odd years, the event was a qualifier for the men's

Canada Cup of Curling The Canada Cup (branded as the Home Hardware Canada Cup for sponsorship reasons, and also referred to as the Canada Cup of Curling) is a major men's and women's curling championship in Canada. It is organized by Curling Canada and is one of its ma ...

while in even years the event is the women's qualifier. It was held annually in December, and was part of the

World Curling Tour The World Curling Tour (WCT) is a group of curling bonspiels featuring the best male, female, and mixed doubles curlers in the world. History The World Curling Tour was founded by former World Champion Ed Lukowich, with later assistance from Jo ...

. The rotating format begun in 2006, when Ottawa hosted the JSI Women's Canada Cup Qualifier. The other qualifier was held annually at the Saville Centre in

Edmonton, Alberta Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city anchor ...

and was known as the

Diversified Transportation Canada Cup Qualifier Diversification may refer to: Biology and agriculture * Genetic divergence, emergence of subpopulations that have accumulated independent genetic changes * Agricultural diversification involves the re-allocation of some of a farm's resources to ...

. In 2004, Ottawa hosted the Canada Cup East Qualifier for both sexes (the 2005 event was cancelled). Prior to this, the event had nothing to do with the Canada Cup, and was known as the Cowan Wright Beauchamp - The Championships (2001-2003) and the Welton Beauchamp Curling Classic (1992-2000) and the Labatt's Blue Light Cashspiel (1989-1991). The purses for the event have often been quite high, and was at $100,000 at one point. The 2008 event gave away $65,200. Mike Harris' victory in 1996 and Brad Gushue's victory in 2004 gave them berths to Canada's Olympic qualifying tournaments which they eventually won. Gushue would win Olympic Gold at the 2006 Winter Olympics, while Harris won silver at the 1998 Olympics. The event last occurred in 2008. There was no Canada Cup in the 2009-10 curling season, cancelling the 2009 tournament. The Canada Cup returned in December 2010, the same time as the qualifiers used to be. To date, the event has not been replaced by another major tournament. The local qualifier for the

2010 Canada Cup of Curling The 2010 Canada Cup of Curling was held December 1–5, 2010 at the Medicine Hat Arena in Medicine Hat, Alberta. The Glenn Howard rink won their first Canada Cup on the men's side while Stefanie Lawton won her second cup. Glenn Howard's win mark ...

was the

Challenge Casino Lac Leamy The Challenge de Curling de Gatineau (formerly the Challenge Chateau Cartier de Gatineau and the Challenge Casino Lac Leamy) is an annual bonspiel, or curling tournament, on the World Curling Tour. It is held annually in late October in the City ...

, and there has not been local qualifiers since.

Champions

References

Curling in Ottawa Former World Curling Tour events {{curling-stub