The Ontario Tankard is the

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...

provincial championship for men's

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. The winner represents Team Ontario at the

Montana's Brier The Brier ('), known since 2024 as the Montana's Brier for sponsorship reasons, is the annual Canadian men's curling championship, sanctioned by Curling Canada. The Brier has been held since 1927, traditionally during the month of March. The wi ...

. The tournament is overseen by CurlON (formerly the Ontario Curling Association).

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

has its own provincial championship, known as the Northern Ontario Men's Provincial Curling Championship. This championship is not to be confused with the Silver Tankard, historically also known as the Ontario Tankard (and until 1937 a Brier qualifier).

Qualification

Since 2017, the qualification has varied from year to year: *2017: 10 teams total (Top two southern Ontario teams in the

CTRS standings The Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS) is a point system used by Curling Canada to rank men's and women's curling teams across Canada. They are determined through points earned in various curling bonspiels held worldwide throughout the season. ...

; Six teams from two regional qualifiers; Two teams from a challenge round). *2018: 12 teams total (Top two CTRS ranked teams; Six teams from two regional qualifiers; Three teams from a challenge round; And the

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champion team). *2019: 10 teams total (Top three CTRS ranked teams; Five teams from three cash spiels; Two teams from an open qualifier). *2020: 9 teams total (Top three CTRS ranked teams; Four teams from two cash spiels; Two teams from an open qualifier). *2022: Originally 8 teams (Top two CTRS ranked teams; Top Trillium Tour series team; Two teams from a cash spiel; three from an open qualifier.) The open qualifier was cancelled due to the

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, so the top seven CTRS teams who had signed up for the qualifier were invited, expanding the number of entries in the tankard to 12. *2023: 12 teams total (Top 2 "Grand Slam series" teams; Top 2 "Trillium Tour '1,000' Series" teams; Top 3 "Trillium Tour '500' Series" teams; Top "Trillium Tour '250' Series (Under-25) team; Four teams from an open qualifier). *2024: 12 teams total (Top four CTRS ranked teams; Top four CTRS ranked teams from Ontario-only events; Four teams from an open qualifier). *2025: 12 teams total (Top eight CTRS ranked teams; Four teams from an open qualifier). Between 1972 and 2016, the event usually had 10 teams: Two teams from each of the four OCA regions, and one winner each from an eastern and western challenge round. When Ontario won the previous Brier, that team would be added to the field for the following season. In 1999, when Ontario had not only won the previous Brier, but an Ontario team also won the

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, the field was expanded to 12 teams, giving them an automatic berth.

Format

The format of the Tankard has differed each year from 2018 to 2023: *2018:

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followed by a four team

page playoff The Page playoff system is a playoff format. It is used in top level competitions in softball, curling, and the Indian Premier League, Pakistan Super League, and Bangladesh Premier League cricket tournaments, and is used widely in lower level comp ...

. *2019: Round robin followed by a four team page playoff. *2020: Round robin followed by a three-team playoff. *2022: Triple knockout followed by a four team page playoff. *2023: Round robin within two pools of six, followed by a four team championship round, followed by a three team playoff. Since 2024, the event has been a triple knockout followed by a four team page playoff. From 1972 to 1981, the tournament was a strict round robin affair, with the team with the best record being crowned champion (a tiebreaker would be held if necessary). From 1981 to 2000, the tournament consisted of a round robin followed by a three team playoff. In 2001, the playoff was replaced with a four team page playoff.

Former Names

* Ontario Silver Tankard: 1927-1931 *1932: Round robin playoff between the winners of the Ontario Tankard, Canada Life Trophy and the Toronto Bonspiel. *1933: Winner was decided between a playoff between the winners of the Ontario Tankard and the Toronto Bonspiel. *Ontario Silver Tankard: 1934-1937 * British Consols: 1938''

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, Feb 24 1938, pg 27 "Ontario Must Rely on Hall"''-1979 *

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Tankard: 1980-1985 *Blue Light Tankard: 1986-1994 *Labatt Tankard: 1995 *

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Cup: 1996-2003 *Ontario Men's Curling Championship: 2004 *

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Cup: 2005-2006 * TSC Stores Tankard: 2007-2009 *Ontario Men's Curling Championship: 2010 * The Dominion Tankard: 2011-2013 *Travelers Tankard: 2014 *Recharge with Milk Tankard: 2015-2017 *Dairy Farmers of Ontario Tankard: 2018 *Ontario Curling Championships: 2019–2020 *Port Elgin Chrysler Ontario Tankard: 2022–23 *Milk Every Moment Ontario Men's Curling Championship: 2024 *Men's Ontario Curling Championship: 2025

Brier representatives

Listed below are the list of Ontario's representatives at the Brier that year. Brier champions indicated in bold. From 1927 to 1931, Toronto had a separate entry at the Brier.

1927–1931

From 1927 to 1931, teams representing Ontario at the Brier were selected from the winning club at the Ontario Silver Tankard, a double rink event which has taken place since 1875.

1932–1980

There was no Brier from 1943 to 1945 due to World War II. Listed here for those years are the winners of the British Consols, the usual Brier qualifying event.

1981–present

A playoff was added to the event in 1981. The 2021 Tankard was cancelled due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario The COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario was a viral pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), a novel infectious disease caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Canada w ...

References

List of Champions - Ontario Curling Association

External links

{{Brier playdowns Ontario Tankard, Recurring sporting events established in 1927 1927 establishments in Ontario