ST. JOHN’S — A Feb. 3 news conference has been called to announce the 2026 Brier is returning to the capital of Newfoundland & Labrador.

It will be the second Canadian men’s curling championship hosted in St. John’s within a decade, following the success of the 2017 championship held at the 7,000-seat Mary Brown’s Centre.

The 2026 Montana’s Brier will start on Feb. 27, just five days after the women’s curling fours gold medal game concludes the Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games.

The Brier final will be contested on Mar. 8.

The recent Grand Slam of Curling National at Mary Brown’s Centre—where Ottawa’s Rachel Homan and Scotland’s Bruce Mouat won the titles—was a clear display of island curling passion.

Past curling majors at the venue — three Slam Players’ Championships and a Canadian women’s national Scotties, all in the 2000s — were popular events but came nowhere near the 104,000 tickets sold for last November’s Slam.

Members of Team Brad Gushue are expected to be in attendance for Monday’s announcement.

It was the 2017 hometown Brier where Gushue, competing in his 14th appearance, finally won his first title. He had lost two finals and finished third twice prior to the breakthrough.

Team Gushue went on to win the 2018 Brier plus titles at London, Ont. in 2023 and the 2024 shootout in Regina. He has 21 appearances in total, in addition to a world championship crown (2017) and two Olympic medals, gold in 2006 and bronze at Beijing 2022.

Gushue has a berth in November’s Olympic Trials in Halifax. A victory there would all but guarantee entry into his second hometown Brier.

Midway through the 2022 Olympic competition, Team Gushue was confirmed for the 2022 Brier. It marks the only time a men’s team has competed at both the Olympics and Brier in the same season.

Hamilton, Ont. was another city that bid on the 2026 Brier.

The FirstOntario Centre, currently undergoing a $290M renovation, previously hosted two Briers (1991 and 2007) and the world men’s championship in 1996.

The 2017 St. John's Brier sold over 122,000 tickets and added at least $10 million to the local economy.