Canadian Team Ranking System (CTRS)

Historical CTRS Results

CTRS & Points Calculation

Residency Rules

• Residency Eligibility Rules
• Birthright FAQ
• Free Agent Rules

Previous Next

CANADIAN TEAM RANKING SYSTEM (CTRS) &
WORLD CURLING TEAM RANKING SYSTEM (WCTRS)
POINTS STRUCTURE

The CTRS/WCTRS points model will determine the points awarded for all events using a combination of size and strength of field and relative importance of large events if necessary.

The CTRS is a “one Curling season” list with teams still allowed to count their best 8 events each season. 

The WCTRS is a combination of a reducing importance of prior year results and the best events from each season. For further information on the WCTRS rankings can be found here. 

The CTRS ranking will allow a defined number of “maximum events” throughout the season until reaching the full 8. The following are the dates and maximum events allowable at each date:

• August 1, 2023 to October 1, 2023 = best two (2) results allowed
• October 2, 2023 to October 22, 2023 = best three (3) results allowed 
• October 23, 2023 to November 12, 2023 = best four (4) results allowed
• November 13, 2023 to December 3, 2023 = best five (5) results allowed
• December 4, 2023 to December 31, 2023 = best six (6) results allowed
• January 1, 2024 to January 28, 2024 = best seven (7) results allowed
• January 29, 2024 to end of season = best eight (8) results allowed 

Note that events played prior to each date of roll-out can still count towards your yearly total, however only the best number of events will count at each checkpoint. Example: Team A plays three events prior to October 1, 2023 and earned 30, 30 & 10 points at their three events. Their point total will be 60 (30+30) up to October 1^st and then 70 (30+30+10) on October 2^nd when the next allowable event slot is opened.

For greater clarity the cut-off for inclusion in the Scotties Tournament of Hearts final Wild Card will be January 28^th and therefore best seven (7) results counting. The cut-off for inclusion in the Brier will be February 11^th and therefore best eight (8) results counting.

GENERAL RULES:

Changes were made this season to simplify the SFM process for all teams and provide a greater clarity in advance of all events. The World Curling Championships and Grand Slam of Curling series will have a defined SFM already outlined to start the season:

Strength of Field — Set Point Events for 2023–2024 Season
World Championships	11.0
GSOC — Tour Challenge, Masters, National, Open & Players	10.0

Tour Cashpiels and Playdowns / Special events will utilize a Strength of Field Multiplier and can reach a maximum SFM as follows:

Strength of Field — Tour Cashspiels for 2023–2024 Season
Tour Cashpiels – Maximum	7.0

PLEASE NOTE: The regulation, released prior to 2022/2023 season, indicating that no event can drop more than 1.0 in the SFM from the previous season will be retained for the 2023/2024 season. Example:

• Event A was played in October 2022 and played to a 5.5 SFM. 
• Event A is played in October 2023, the SFM will be calculated based on the teams competing. 
• If the calculated SFM in October 2023 is 4.0, the event in October 2023 will be played to a 4.5 SFM.
• If the calculated SFM in October 2023 is 4.5 or higher it will be played to the calculated SFM this season. 
• Note: New Events will play to the calculated SFM from this season and this regulation will relate to the event played in the 2024-2025 season
• Note: This regulation does not relate to Special Events / Playdowns

Importance factor increase for Special Event / Playdown
Nationals	75% to a maximum of 10.0
Europeans & Pan Continental	75% to a maximum of 10.0

Note that all SFM calculations are rounded down to the nearest point 5. For example, if Strength of Field Multiplier is calculated at 4.25, then the event will use a 4.0 Strength of Field Multiplier event; 5.76 would use a 5.5 Strength of Field Multiplier event, etc.

Strength of Field Multiplier is calculated as follows:

Team total:

Team contributions are calculated based on the WCTRS ranking as of the Tuesday prior to the event. Each eligible team that competes is included and the contributions are as follows:

Teams scale:

The teams’ contribution total is then scaled to normalize to a 24 team event. The formula is as follows: 

24 / N where N equals the total number of teams playing in the event.

Teams factor:

For Tour Cashspiel events, the minimum number of teams for CTRS inclusion is 8. The formula to factor this in will be determine as follows:

1 + (n – 16) * 0.03125 where N equals the total number of teams playing in the event.

Purse factor:

There will be no purse factor calculation for 2022-2023 season.

Importance factor:

National Championships will have an importance factor bump of 75%. Total amount will be multiplied by 1.75

Also note that single knockout formats will receive a 25% reduction of total SFM before adjusting for base points. 

Base points multiplier:

Once SFM is determined (either through calculation or pre-season set total) teams will earn points based on their final ranking as follows:

Placing	Base Point Value
1st	7.50
2nd	5.50
3rd – 4th	4.25
5th-8th	3.00

Note if a bronze medal game is played to determine 3^rd place then the bronze medallist will receive 4.25 * SFM and the 4^th place will receive 4.00 * SFM.

Points-Per win is calculated as 0.375 * SFM * number of team wins for teams that do not make the playoffs.

Tour Cashspiel and Playdown Rules:

• Events must post results, which includes full team rosters, draw schedule and full linescores on their own private website or through the results service.
• Acceptable formats: round robin, pools, single/double/triple knockout
• The Five Rock Free Guard Zone rule must be used for all events
• All games must be 8 or 10 ends in length. Tiebreaker games can be 6 ends.
• For a team to count CTRS/WCTRS points toward their yearly total, they must have at least 3 of 4 of the registered players on the ice at all times during the event.
  • This means during every end of every game.
  • The duty rests on the team to indicate when they are not eligible.
  • Teams found in violation will lose all points for the event in question and subject to a penalty of 2 times the scaled SFM value (i.e. if the scaled SFM value was 3.5 the penalty would be 7.0 points).
• Team changes – Due to the nature of testing out lineups, teams have until October 31st of the current season to finalize their lineup to earn points for the season. Should a team make a lineup change that will affect the opening season points or points earned during the season, changes will be made retroactively to reflect the new lineup.
• The SFM value will be calculated on the Tuesday prior to the event in question.
• CTRS/WCTRS playoff points are available to the top half of the field (rounding down) to a maximum of 8 teams. Events with 16+ teams will therefore generate 8 teams with playoff points and events with 12-13 teams can generate playoff points to the top 6, and etc.
  • For event where finding the top half of the field includes teams finishing in an equal placing but leaves greater than 50% of the field receiving points, the following calculations will be completed: the teams that make up the tied placings that finish with a losing record will get 50% of their qualifying points and all other records will get full points.
  • Exception – single knockout formats will only allow 25% of the field to receive fixed points.

Tiebreakers within the Rankings:

Note that there is no ties or effective ties. 

If teams are tied at any point in the rankings, ties will be broken as follows:

1. If one team has a lower number of counting events than the team they are tied with, the team with less events will be ranked higher
   1. Example – Team A has 140 points in 7 events and Team B has 140 points in 8 events; Team A is ranked higher than Team B
2. If a tie cannot be determined by number 1, each team will remove their lowest counting point total and totals will be recalculated until the tie is broken:
   1. Example – Team A has 140 points in 8 events with their lowest counting event being a “10”. Team B has 140 points in 8 events with their lowest counting event being a “5”. 
   2. Team A removes their “10” and now has 130 points in 7 events. Team B removes their “5” and now has 135 points in 7 events. Team B is now ranked higher than Team A

Challenges:

Challenges for registered teams or point allocations must be made within seven (7) days of the event and submitted to the following email addresses:

Nolan Thiessen, Curling Canada, [email protected] & Rob Gordon, World Curling, [email protected], as any challenge affects both the CTRS and WCTRS listings.

CTRS & WCTRS Points Structure

Download