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In the final, Team Alberta, skipped by Brendan Bottcher defeated Team Wild Card 2, skipped by Kevin Koe in an all-Alberta final, and a re-match of the 2019 Brier final. It was Bottcher's first Brier championship after losing the previous three finals. The first six ends of the final were evenly matched with Koe leading 1–0 heading into the seventh end. In the seventh, Koe's first rock picked, and he missed a double on his second shot, allowing Bottcher a draw for three, to go up 3–1. The two teams exchanged singles in the 8th and 9th ends, and in the 10th end, with just 30 seconds left on their time clock, Koe conceded with one rock left, as his team had no possibilities to score two points to tie the game.[3] As champions, Bottcher and his team went on to represent Canada at the 2021 World Men's Curling Championship, where they finished in sixth place.[4]
The event was originally scheduled to be held in Kelowna, British Columbia.[5] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, it was announced that most Curling Canada championships still being held in the 2020–21 curling season (including the World Men's Curling Championship, which will be held at the same site) would be moved to a centralized "bubble" (similar to that of the NHL as in Edmonton) at Canada Olympic Park. All events will be held behind closed doors with no spectators admitted.[6] In addition, due to COVID-19 restrictions and logistics, many provincial playdowns have been cancelled, with teams being selected by their respective member association instead.
When Ontario played Newfoundland and Labrador in Draw 11, it marked the first time that two openly LGBTQ skips (John Epping and Greg Smith respectively) played against each other at the Brier.[7]
In previous years, a wild card game was played between the top two teams on the Canadian Team Ranking System standings who did not win their provincial championship; the winner of this game was usually granted the final spot in the tournament. However, with many provinces cancelling their provincial championships due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, thus not allowing many teams to compete for a chance to play at the Brier, Curling Canada opted to include three wild card teams instead of the usual one. These teams directly qualified and did not participate in a play-in game.[22]
For selection, teams must have 3 of 4 returning players from the previous season.
The top four teams from each pool advance to the championship pool. All wins and losses earned in the round robin were carried forward into the championship pool.
To offset for the extra pool stage games played due to the additional Wild Card teams admitted to the tournament, the playoffs reverted to the former system consisting of only a semi-final and final, with only top three teams qualifying. The "page playoff" 1-2 game and the "quarter-final" 3-4 game were not played.
The Nunavut Brier Playdowns were played at the Iqaluit Curling Club in Iqaluit, January 8–10.[26] Team MacKey (Peter Mackey, Jeff Nadeau, Greg Howard, Jeff Chown) defeated Team Kingdon (Wade Kingdon, Hunter Tootoo, Peter Van Strien, Cory Bell)[27] 3 games to 2 in a best of five series. Team MacKey won three straight games after losing their first two.[28]
The 2021 PEI Tankard was held January 29–30 in O'Leary. Team Eddie MacKenzie defeated Team Blair Jay 3 games to 0 in the best of five series.[29] They were the only two teams to enter the event.
^ abTeam Canada's alternate Ryan McNeil Lamswood threw second stones for the last two ends of Draw 15 and the last three ends of Draw 17.
^ abTeam Alberta's alternate Pat Janssen threw lead stones for the last three ends of Draw 4.
^ abSteve Laycock skipped Team British Columbia’s first two games, and Jim Cotter skipped the rest. Cotter threw fourth rocks for all games.
^ abcTeam British Columbia's alternate Tyler Tardi threw second stones for the last end of Draw 8 and lead stones during Draw 18.
^ abcTeam Manitoba's alternate Jacques Gauthier threw lead stones for the last end of Draw 4 and second stones for the last two ends of Draw 20.
^ abTeam New Brunswick's alternate Kevin Keefe threw lead stones for the last two ends of Draw 10.
^ abcTeam Newfoundland and Labrador's alternate Adam Boland threw third stones for the last four ends of Draw 7 and lead stones for the last end of Draw 13.
^ abTeam Northern Ontario's alternate Lee Toner threw lead stones for the last end of Draw 2.
^Scott McDonald is skipping the Jamie Murphy rink, as Murphy has decided to stay home due to work and family priorities.[15]
^ abcFor the last four ends of Draw 15, Team Nova Scotia's alternate Kevin Ouellette threw second stones, second Scott Saccary threw third stones and third Paul Flemming sat out.
^ abcFor the last four ends of Draw 5, Team Prince Edward Island's alternate Aaron Bartling threw third stones, third Tyler Smith threw skip stones and skip Eddie MacKenzie sat out. They also used this lineup during Draw 13.
^ abTeam Prince Edward Island's alternate Aaron Bartling threw second stones during Draw 15.
^ abTeam Quebec's alternate William Dion threw second stones for the last four ends of Draw 5.
^For the last three ends of Draw 16, Team Northwest Territories's alternate David Aho threw second stones, second Brad Patzer threw third stones, third Tom Naugler threw skip stones and skip Greg Skauge sat out.
^ abTeam Northwest Territories's alternate David Aho threw lead stones for the last two ends of Draw 4.
^Team Nunavut used a five-player rotation between all positions.
^ abTeam Yukon's alternate Ray Mikkelsen threw third stones during Draw 10.
^ abWild Card #2 alternate Mike Caione threw lead stones for the last three ends of Draw 9.
Alberta
Northern Ontario (Jacobs)
Ontario (Epping)
Canada (Gushue)
Wild Card #1 (McEwen)
Saskatchewan (Dunstone)
Nova Scotia (Murphy)
Quebec (Fournier)
British Columbia (Cotter)
New Brunswick (Grattan)
Newfoundland and Labrador (Smith)
Northwest Territories (Skauge)
Nunavut (Mackey)
Prince Edward Island (MacKenzie)
Yukon (Mikkelsen)
