2023 Brier in London, Ont. will bring '$8M-$10M in economic impact': Tourism London
The road to economic pandemic recovery in London, Ont. received a "significant boost" Monday when Curling Canada announced the Tim Hortons Brier would return to the Forest City next year.
The event will be held at Budweiser Gardens from March 3-12, 2023.
"To be honest, we've been planning this since 2012," says Peter Inch, one of three vice-chairs for the host committee.
That was just one year after the last time the City of London hosted Canada's premier curling event.
In 2011, the then-named John Labatt Centre saw more than 110,000 fans attend the Brier, which was won by Manitoba's Jeff Stoughton.
With hotel tax fund help from Tourism London, London's host committee was able to win the bid. The economic spinoff will be just what the city needs on the road to pandemic recovery.
"It's been significant what this pandemic has caused," says Zanth Jarvis, director of sport tourism at Tourism London.
"Just alone for the participants and Curling Canada, that's 2,200 hotel rooms right there. We're looking at a projected economic impact between $8 to $10 million. It's a significant boost, but this one event won't be all of the recovery as it's going to take a while."
However Jarvis calls this a step in the right direction.
"Today's announcement comes absolutely the right time," says London Mayor Ed Holder. "We need things to look forward to, and reasons to celebrate and hosting the 2023 Brier checks all those boxes."
London and the surrounding curling clubs are no strangers to hosting major events.
Budweiser Gardens hosted the Brier in 2011 and the 2006 Scotties Tournament of Hearts.
It will be the third time the Canadian men’s championship has been contested in London; the 1974 Macdonald Brier, won by Alberta’s Hec Gervais, was played at the old London Gardens.
London’s history with major curling events is a rich one; the city has hosted highly successful editions of the Continental Cup of Curling in 2020 and 2018, as well as the 1981 World Men’s Championship.
"London is a fabulous city and they knock it out of the park every time they host a sporting event," says Katherine Henderson, CEO of Curling Canada.
"We partnered with them before. They've proven to us over and over again that they know how to do this and they know how to do it really well. These are always difficult decisions, but just going back to London and knowing the success that they've had in the past made this a much easier decision."
Inch called it a "long process" to get back to this point.
"The Continental Cups were a couple of what I call steps that we had to take before we felt confident of putting that bid forward again," says Inch.
London has a big volunteer base, and that helped in the bidding process.
"We always think the volunteers come from our curling clubs, but in London, our volunteers come from the community," says Inch.
"It's not just from the curling club and we saw that. We're very confident that we can provide a outstanding event with volunteers and knock it out of the park like we always do."
Information on how to volunteer and how to get tickets will be coming soon.
The event is 14 months away, but the hope is that the pandemic will be over, and this can be a traditional Brier with large crowds and parties around the city.
"We always take advice from public health and we always play the game as safely as we possibly can," says Henderson."At this point with Canada's commitment to public health or vaccine rates we are quite confident that coming to London, we're going to have a really terrific time."
The fan zone known as the 'Brier Patch' will be held at RBC Place London.
Henderson finished by saying "we want to be partying in that patch together."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.