The Canadian National Skating Championships () are 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 ...
organized 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 ...
to crown the
national champions
National champions are corporations which are technically private businesses but due to governmental policy are ceded a dominant position in a national economy. In this system, these large organizations are expected not only to seek profit but als ...
of Canada. While the first official Canadian Championships were held in 1914, unofficial championships had been hosted by the
Minto Skating Club 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 ...
since 1905. They have been interrupted only twice since 1920. The event was called the Canadian Figure Skating Championships () prior to 2023, when
synchronized skating
Synchronized skating, often called synchro, is an ice skating sport where between 8 and 20 skaters perform together as a team. They move as a flowing unit at high speed over the ice, while performing elements and footwork.
This complex sport orig ...
, which had previously held
separate championships, was folded into the competition along with the other figure skating disciplines.
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 ...
,
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 ...
, and synchronized skating at the senior and junior levels. The results are among the criteria used to determine the Canadian entries to 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 ...
,
World Junior Figure Skating Championships
The World Junior Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The first World J ...
,
Four Continents Figure Skating Championships
The Four Continents Figure Skating Championships are an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union (ISU). Medals are awarded in men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ice dance. The ISU e ...
, and
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 ...
, as well as the members of the Canadian national team.
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 ...
currently holds the record for winning the most Canadian Championship titles in men's singles (with ten), while
Constance Wilson-Samuel holds the record in women's singles (with nine).
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 ...
hold the record in pair skating (with seven), while
Shae-Lynn Bourne
Shae-Lynn Bourne (born January 24, 1976) is a Canadian ice dancer and choreographer. In 2003, she and partner Victor Kraatz became the first North American ice dancers to win a World Championship. They competed at three Winter Olympic Games, pl ...
and
Victor Kraatz
Victor Kraatz, (born April 7, 1971) is a Canadian former ice dancer. In 2003, he and his partner, Shae-Lynn Bourne, became the first North American ice dancers to win a World Championship.
Personal life
Born on April 7, 1971, in West Berlin ...
hold the record in ice dance (with ten).
History
The
Amateur Skating Association of 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 ...
was formed in 1887 to govern
speed skating
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skat ...
and figure skating in Canada.
The first Canadian Championships were held in 1905 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 ...
.
Early editions of the championships were hosted by the
Minto Skating Club, whose goal was to encourage a Canadian style of skating uniquely different than the traditional
English style. This Canadian style was more in line with the
international style
The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...
, incorporating ballet and dance movements with skating, "permitting the greatest freedom on the part of the individual in respect to his movements," while the English style was much more rigid and formal, focusing on the tracing of elaborate
special figures. The earliest championships featured
single skating
Single skating is a discipline of figure skating in which male and female skaters compete individually. Men's singles and women's singles are governed by the International Skating Union (ISU). Figure skating is the oldest winter sport conteste ...
and
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 ...
(called "hand-in-hand skating").
Ormond Haycock won the inaugural singles event, as well as the pairs event with his sister Katherine.
No competitions were held in 1907 after the
Rideau Skating Rink
The Rideau Skating Rink was an indoor skating and curling facility located in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Consisting of a curling rink and a skating rink, it was one of the first indoor rinks in Canada. The Rideau Rink was scheduled to open on Jan ...
was destroyed by a fire. While separate competitions for men and women were not held until 1913,
an award was presented to the "top lady skater" at each competition prior to 1913. A separate governing organization for figure skating in Canada was established in 1914: the Figure Skating Department of the Amateur Skating Association of Canada.
This was the forerunner of today's
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 ...
, and as such, the 1914 Canadian Championships are regarded as the first official championships,
although they existed as a continuation of these earlier championships.
No competitions were held from 1915 through 1919 due to
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
During
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, no senior-level events were contested in 1943,
and the women's event was the only senior-level event contested in 1944.
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 ...
was added as a discipline in 1947, while the
waltz and tenstep competitions were discontinued after 1959.
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 singles skating since the beginning, were retired after the 1990 championships.
Competition in
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 ...
was held irregularly, with the final competition taking place in 1997.
The 2021 championships were cancelled 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 ...
;
and in December 2021, due to
Ontario's COVID-19 public health orders, Skate Canada announced that the
2022 Canadian Championships would be held in a closed arena without spectators or on-site media.
Prior to 2023, the
Canadian Synchronized Skating Championships had been held as a separate event.
Beginning in 2023, the junior- and senior-level
synchronized skating
Synchronized skating, often called synchro, is an ice skating sport where between 8 and 20 skaters perform together as a team. They move as a flowing unit at high speed over the ice, while performing elements and footwork.
This complex sport orig ...
competitions were incorporated into the Canadian Figure Skating Championships; hence the change in the event's name.
Senior medalists
Men's singles
Prior to the establishment of a separate event for women in 1913, men and women competed in the same event.
Women's singles
Although the Canadian Championships from 1905 to 1912 did not have separate competitions for men and women, an award was presented to the "top lady skater".
Pairs
Ice dance
Synchronized skating
Junior medalists
Men's singles
Women's singles
Pairs
Ice dance
Synchronized skating
Discontinued events
These events were held only in the years indicated. The
waltz and tenstep were retired in 1959, while
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 ...
continued intermittently until 1997.
Four skating
Tenstep
In 1938 and 1946, skaters performed a
fourteenstep instead of a tenstep.
Waltz
Records
References
Works cited
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*
External links
Skate CanadaCanadian National Championshipsat Skating Scores
{{National Figure Skating Championships
Canadian National Skating Championships
Figure skating national championships
Figure skating in Canada
Recurring sporting events established in 1905
1905 establishments in Canada