Canada’s curling community will continue working together

When you register to play at your local curling centre, you’re doing more than just signing up to play in the Tuesday night open league with your partner, your friends, or a group of strangers who will BECOME friends.

You’re also doing your part to support curling at the grassroots level — not just in your community but across Canada.

Since 2015, $2 of your fee has gone to Curling Canada and used to invest in numerous initiatives aimed at bolstering our sport at the grassroots level.

The Curling Development Fee is collected in order to help develop the sport of curling in Canada, and, more importantly, develop curlers just like you. The money isn’t used for High Performance athletes you see on TV. It isn’t used to support any of Curling Canada’s national championship events.

Instead, it helps grow our sport at the community level in constant collaboration with Curling Canada’s 14 Member Associations, and helps move our sport forward in a healthy and sustainable way. The aim is always to provide supportive programming, best in class resources and most importantly contribute to rewarding experiences, for newcomers and long-time curlers alike. This funding support is needed to continue providing and improving the programs and services that support that goal. 

Curling is not unlike other National Sport Organizations and feeling the crunch of stagnated or cut funding programs. At the same time, we see the growing demand and need to deliver grassroots development to continue to invest in the future of our game. We all have a part to play in supporting that growth and ensuring generations to come love and support our game. As such this will result in a fee increase beginning with the 2025-26 curling season. The amount of money collected by your curling centre from each member that goes to Curling Canada will increase to $5 — the first increase in a decade — and will increase to $8 in the 2027-28 season and to $10 in 2029-30.

These funds are meant to provide a consistent funding stream without relying on one-time grants or temporary investments to continue to go to strategically developing our sport at the grassroots level. Curling Canada works alongside your respective Provincial or Territorial Curling Association and affiliated curling centres, to support strategies for club health and system growth and you will be playing a role just by signing up to curl.

How will that be done? Here are just a few of the examples:

Youth Awareness and Development

Curling Canada has made it a strategic priority to get more young people involved, and we have invested heavily in making this happen. There’s no question the future of our sport depends on it. Working with our Member Associations, there have been countless recreational and development programs created and shared at the Under-9, U-12, U-15, and U-18 stages to support personal growth opportunities within our sport and generate connections for young Canadians. Examples include the Hit Draw Tap, RockStars, and other club-delivered youth programs.

Women and Girls in Sport

Sport can play a vital role in providing opportunities for women and girls to develop confidence, leadership skills and athletic skills. Our sport has been a leader in this area but we will never rest on our laurels. Curling Canada and its Gender Equity Council have put together numerous pilot initiatives to foster this development of professional growth opportunities for women and girls. Among them are Women in Curling, Girls Rock, Women in Curling Summits, Coaches Rock, and Women in Curling national webinars.

Reaching new curlers

Ensuring that curlers of all backgrounds and abilities are welcome and comfortable in Canadian curling centres has been a focus for Curling Canada and its Member Associations, and that focus has produced a variety of campaigns and resources that have been offered to curlers and curling centres to help them move forward in this area. Examples in recent years include the Changing the Face of Curling symposium, the Curling for Change podcast series, Curling Canada’s Diversity and Inclusivity website,  and the development of resources for Canadian curling centres to help them grow and reach out to those that haven’t previously seen themselves in curling.

We also must invest in marketing the game in a modern way, through modern media methods and channels to reach people where they are. We will use part of these funds to invest in telling the story of the benefits of participation in our game and show that everyone is welcome in the amazing community we all have built.

Club Development

In conjunction with Member Associations, Curling Canada has offered for many years now Business of Curling seminars that present new, innovative and efficient ways for curling centres to do their business. The program encompasses improving the user experience, both on and off the ice, and streamlining and modernizing business operations to improve the bottom line and sustainability of clubs.

Curling Canada is also encouraging curling centres to start hiring Curling Professionals through its Association of Curling Professionals initiative, with an accompanying training and certification program. Curling pros are dedicated to moving our sport forward at the club level, and working to improve curling experiences for members and guests through advanced knowledge of curling club operations and high-quality instruction.

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In short, we all have a role to play to ensure the continued growth and evolution of our sport, and as the national governing body for the sport, Curling Canada is not only pleased to take a leadership role, we’re also excited about the opportunities that lay in front of us. Your modest contributions will help make our sport better for everyone, now and in the future.

(Click here for an overview of the Curling Development Fee and how it is used and implemented)