The four-player Olympic trials will open with a round-robin draw from which only the top three teams will advance to the playoffs, as reported by CBC.

The second and third-place teams will meet in a semi-final while the first-placed team will advance directly to the final, which, for the first time, will be decided in a best-of-three format.

The four-player Olympic trials are scheduled for November 22 to 30 2025 at a location to be announced.

The pre-trials take place in October and have the same format.

Curling Canada says the format for the mixed doubles Olympic trials is still being finalised and will be announced later this year.

"We feel confident that these changes will give our high-performance athletes the best opportunity to succeed," said Katherine Henderson, chief executive officer of Curling Canada.

"There were a lot of voices, from athletes, funding partners, and coaches, who played a valued and significant role in getting us to this point and while there is still work to be done, we feel we are in a better place leading to the 2026 Winter Olympics."

Curling Canada is also making changes to the Tournament of Hearts and the Brier beginning next year.

The top two men's and women's teams not already qualified from this season will automatically earn a spot in next year's Canadian Championship events.

The third wild-card team will be determined following the 2023-2024 provincial and territorial playdowns.