2016 Skate Canada International - Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir - 39

Skate Canada International is an annual

figure skating competition A figure skating competition is a judged sports competition in figure skating. Types of figure skating competitions International International competitions sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU) are governed by the union's rules ...

sanctioned by the

International Skating Union The International Skating Union (ISU) is the international sport governing body, governing body for competitive ice skating disciplines, including figure skating, synchronized skating, speed skating, and short track speed skating. It was founded ...

(ISU), organised and hosted by

Skate Canada Skate Canada (Canadian French: ''Patinage Canada'', lit. "Skating Canada") is the national governing body for figure skating in Canada, recognized by the International Skating Union and the Canadian Olympic Committee. It organizes the annual C ...

. The first Skate Canada competition was held in 1973 in

Calgary, Alberta Calgary () is a major city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a Metropolitan area, metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the List of ...

. When the ISU launched the Champions Series (later renamed the Grand Prix Series) in 1995, Skate Canada International was one of the five qualifying events. It has been a Grand Prix event every year, except for 2020, when Skate Canada was forced to cancel the event due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles,

pair skating Pair skating is a figure skating discipline defined by the International Skating Union (ISU) as "the skating of two persons in unison who perform their movements in such harmony with each other as to give the impression of genuine Pair Skating ...

, and

ice dance Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

. Skaters earn points based on their results at the qualifying competitions each season, and the top skaters or teams in each discipline are invited to then compete at the

Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final The Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final – originally known as the Champions Series Final – is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). It is the culminating event of the Grand Prix Series. Meda ...

Patrick Chan Patrick Lewis Wai–Kuan Chan (born December 31, 1990) is a Canadian former competitive figure skater. He is a Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Team event, 2018 Olympic gold medallist in the team event, Figure skating at the 2014 ...

of Canada currently holds the record for winning the most Skate Canada titles in men's singles (with six), while

Michelle Kwan Michelle Wingshan Kwan (born July 7, 1980) is a retired American competitive figure skating, figure skater and diplomat who served as List of ambassadors of the United States to Belize, United States Ambassador to Belize from 2022 to 2025. In ...

of the United States and

Joannie Rochette Joannie Rochette (born January 13, 1986) is a Canadian physician and retired competitive figure skater. She is the 2010 Olympic bronze medallist, the 2009 World silver medallist, the 2008 and 2009 Four Continents silver medallist, the 2004 Gr ...

of Canada are tied for winning the most titles in women's singles (with three each).

Meagan Duhamel Meagan Duhamel (born December 8, 1985) is a retired Canadian pair skater. With partner Eric Radford, she is a two-time world champion (2015, 2016), a 2018 Olympic gold medallist in the team event, a 2014 Olympic silver medallist in the team ev ...

and

Eric Radford Eric Radford (born January 27, 1985) is a retired Canadian pair skater. With former partner Meagan Duhamel, he is a two-time world champion (2015, 2016), a 2018 Olympic gold medallist in the team event, a 2014 Olympic silver medallist in the t ...

of Canada, and

Aljona Savchenko Aljona Savchenko (, ''Olena Valentynivna Savchenko''; German Romanization: ''Aljona Sawtschenko'', sometimes ''Aliona Savchenko''; born 19 January 1984) is a retired Ukrainian-born German pair skater. One of the most decorated pair skaters, she ...

and

Robin Szolkowy Robin Szolkowy (born 14 July 1979) is a retired German pair skater. With partner Aliona Savchenko, he is the 2010 and 2014 Olympic bronze medalist, a five-time World champion (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014), a four-time European champion (20 ...

of Germany, are tied for winning the most titles in pair skating (with four each).

Tessa Virtue Tessa Jane McCormick Virtue (born May 17, 1989) is a Canadian retired ice dancer. With ice dance partner Scott Moir, she is the 2010 and 2018 Olympic champion, the 2014 Olympic silver medallist, a three-time World champion (2010, 2012, 2017) ...

and

Scott Moir Scott Patrick Moir ( ; born September 2, 1987) is a Canadian retired ice dancer and coach. With ice dance partner Tessa Virtue, he is the Figure skating at the 2010 Winter Olympics, 2010 and Figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics, 2018 Olym ...

of Canada hold the record in ice dance (with seven).

History

Between 1923 and 1971, the

Canadian Figure Skating Association Skate Canada (Canadian French: ''Patinage Canada'', lit. "Skating Canada") is the national governing body for figure skating in Canada, recognized by the International Skating Union and the Canadian Olympic Committee. It organizes the annual ...

, which changed its name to

in 2000, and the U.S. Figure Skating Association co-hosted the

North American Figure Skating Championships The North American Figure Skating Championships were a biennial figure skating competition, and although they were sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU), they were actually a joint venture of the Canadian Figure Skating Associat ...

. At this time, medal contenders at the

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). The first World Championships were held in 1896 in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and they have been held e ...

and the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held i ...

came from either Europe or North America. The North American Championships allowed Canadian and American skaters the opportunity to compete at a comparable event to the

European Figure Skating Championships The European Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medals are awarded in single skating, men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The ...

. The championships were held every other year, with Canada and the United States alternating as hosts, and only skaters from Canada and the United States were eligible to compete. At a planning meeting held in April 1972, representatives from the Canadian Figure Skating Association announced Canada's plans to withdraw from the North American Championships. With one of the two participating nations out, this effectively marked the end of the championships. The delegation from the U.S. Figure Skating Association was unaware at the time that the Canadian Figure Skating Association was already in the planning stages of launching their own international skating competition. The first edition of the Skate Canada International, then simply called Skate Canada, was held in 1973 in

. Nine countries were invited to participate: Austria, Czechoslovakia, East Germany, France, Great Britain, Japan, the Soviet Union, the United States, and West Germany. Each nation could field one entry in each of three events – men's singles, women's singles, and

– while Canada fielded three entries in each event.

Toller Cranston Toller Shalitoe Montague Cranston (April 20, 1949 – January 24, 2015) was a Canadian figure skater and painter. He won the 1971–1976 Canadian national championships, the 1974 World bronze medal and the 1976 Olympic bronze medal. De ...

and

Lynn Nightingale Lynn Nightingale, later Connor (born August 5, 1956) is a Canadian former competitive figure skater. She won gold medals at the Skate Canada International, Prague Skate, Richmond Trophy and Prize of Moscow News, as well as four Canadian national ...

, both of Canada, won the men's and women's events, respectively, while Hilary Green and Glyn Watts of Great Britain won the ice dance event. Canada did not hold the competition in 1979 after reaching an agreement with the U.S. Figure Skating Association to accommodate the Olympic test event at

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205. The village of Lake Placid ...

, in anticipation of the

1980 Winter Olympics The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially the XIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Lake Placid 1980, were an international multi-sport event held from February 13 to 24, 1980, in Lake Placid, New York, United States. Lake Placid was elected ...

. In 1987, Skate Canada hosted their own test event at the

Olympic Saddledome Scotiabank Saddledome is a multi-use indoor arena in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Located in Stampede Park in the southeast end of downtown Calgary, the Saddledome was built in 1983 to replace the Stampede Corral as the home of the Calgary Flames ...

in Calgary, site of the

1988 Winter Olympics The 1988 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XV Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Calgary 1988 were a multi-sport event held from February 13 to 28, 1988, with Calgary, Calgary, Alberta as the main host city. This marks the m ...

Compulsory figures Compulsory figures or school figures were formerly a segment of figure skating, and gave the sport its name. They are the "circular patterns which skaters trace on the ice to demonstrate skill in placing clean turns evenly on round circles". For ...

, which had been a required element of men's and women's single skating since the beginning, were retired after the 1988 competition. In 1989, Skate Canada unveiled three new events: men's artistic programs, women's artistic programs, and

four skating Four skating is a figure skating and artistic roller skating discipline. Fours teams consist of two women and two men. The sport is similar to pair skating, with elements including overhead lifts, twist lifts, death spirals, and throw jumps, as wel ...

. The artistic events – later rechristened "interpretive programs" – required each skater to present a 2:30 minute program with an emphasis on musical interpretation. No double Axels or triple-rotation jumps were permitted, and skaters had total latitude over their choice of music and costume, even allowing for vocal music, which was not allowed in regular competition at this time. Four skating was not simply two sets of pair skaters performing together; but rather, four individual skaters performing a single routine. This routine included solo jumps, spins, paired throw jumps, paired lifts, paired combination spins, death spirals – all with an exchange of partners – as well as four-person combination spins, lifts, and death spirals. Beginning with the 1995–96 season, the

(ISU) launched the Champions Series – later renamed the Grand Prix Series – which, at its inception, consisted of five qualifying competitions and the Champions Series Final. This allowed skaters to perfect their programs earlier in the season, as well as compete against the skaters with whom they would later compete at the World Championships. This series also provided the viewing public with additional televised skating, which was in high demand. The five qualifying competitions during this inaugural season were the 1995 Nations Cup, the

1995 NHK Trophy The 1995 NHK Trophy was the final event of five in the 1995–96 ISU Champions Series, a senior-level international invitational competition series. This was the inaugural year of that series. It was held in Nagoya on December 7–10. Medals were ...

, the

1995 Skate America The 1995 Skate America was the first event of five in the 1995–96 ISU Champions Series, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held at the Cobo Arena in Detroit, Michigan on October 17–22. Medals were awarded i ...

, the 1995 Skate Canada, and the

1995 Trophée de France The 1995 Trophée de France was the third event of five in the 1995–96 ISU Champions Series, a senior-level international invitational competition series. It was held in Bordeaux on November 14–17. Medals were awarded in the disciplines of ...

. Skaters earned points based on their results in their respective competitions and the top skaters or teams in each discipline were invited to compete at the Champions Series Final. Skate Canada International has been a qualifying event of the Grand Prix Series every year since, except for 2020, when rising COVID-19 cases in Ontario forced its cancellation. The competition had been scheduled to take place in

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

with no audience present, but Skate Canada and city officials decided to cancel it altogether. The

2025 Skate Canada International The 2025 Skate Canada International is a figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). Organized and hosted by the Skate Canada, it is the third event of the 2025–26 ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating: a senior-le ...

is scheduled to be held from 31 October to 2 November at the

SaskTel Centre SaskTel Centre (formerly Credit Union Centre, and originally Saskatchewan Place; informally also known as ''Sask Place'') is an arena located in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. The facility opened in February 1988 and is currently the home venue ...

Saskatoon, Saskatchewan Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

Medalists

Men's singles

Women's singles

Pairs

Ice dance

Discontinued events

Men's interpretive program

Women's interpretive program

Four skating

Records

Cumulative medal count

Men's singles

Women's singles

Pairs

Ice dance

Total medals

References

External links

Skate Canada

ISU Grand Prix

Skate Canada International
at Skating Scores {{Grand Prix Figure skating ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating International figure skating competitions hosted by Canada Recurring sporting events established in 1973 1973 establishments in Canada