Canada Open

After careful consideration, both events are scheduled to be hosted in downtown Montreal, Québec at the Palais des Congrès de Montréal.  The decision was made to host both events in the same week in the heart of Canada’s cultural capital with strategic alignment around a number of factors and the goal of maximizing participation, optimizing resources, and athlete well-being as the organization’s top priorities.

Planning for these two events this winter was not an easy process given a number of factors we were faced with navigating around. Ultimately, Taekwondo Canada made this challenging decision while putting the athletes’ needs, participation, performance preparation, conflicting schedules at other venues across Canada and proximity to the US Open.

Montreal has a long history of staging successful world-class events and we’re very excited to partner with Taekwondo Quebec to host our nation’s best on the same stage, and in the same week, that will welcome the world for the Canada Open. Hosting both events in Montreal will also streamline logistical operations while providing substantial cost-saving benefits for participants. The location and date on the domestic event calendar also presents a better all-around experience for athletes, coaches, and spectators.

Hosting the National Championships alongside the Canada Open enables Taekwondo Canada to leverage existing support services and infrastructure typically deployed for our larger international events. This includes access to professional livestreaming capabilities, elite venue setup, and competition systems. By integrating these resources, we elevate the National Championships' overall experience, aligning it more closely with the standards set by the prestigious Canada Open.

First and foremost, the strategic sequencing of the National Championships followed by the Canada Open supports athletes and coaches in their preparation for team selection and weight management protocols. In conducting the National Championships first, athletes have the opportunity to register for their preferred weight divisions for national team selection. Subsequently, those choosing to stay for the Canada Open can then make necessary adjustments to their weight classifications up until the general weigh-in (if needed), ensuring optimal participation and competitive readiness.

It is our goal always to put the athletes needs first and foremost when creating our annual event calendar. Recognizing the complex athletic and academic lives of our young athletes, we wanted to allow them more time at home during the holiday season, better prepare them for team selection events and weight adjustments, and we were also definitely sensitive to our athletes’ academic commitments. While we recognize high-performance athletes do have to miss school time to achieve their performance goals, it is our hope that providing ample notice and strategic scheduling, will help minimize disruptions to school responsibilities in an effort to increase athlete participation at National Championships.

Experience has shown that managing National Championships and a Canada Open in separate cities, with only a short interval between them, presents significant logistical challenges for participants. By consolidating both events in Montreal, we streamline logistical operations and ensure a smoother overall experience for all stakeholders.

Hosting both events consecutively in Montreal offers substantial cost-saving benefits for participants. Participants will benefit from reduced travel expenses, accommodation costs, and time commitments by attending both events in a single trip. Additionally, consolidating resources and services for both events will optimize organizational efficiency.

Taekwondo Canada is unable to return to Vancouver for the 2025 Canada Open due to a scheduling conflict with the 2025 Invictus Games. These major games are set to take place during our targeted dates that are prioritized to be near the 2025 US Open. After considering other major hub cities to optimize travel, Montreal emerged as the best alternative host city, given its ideal venue and accommodation infrastructure.

The 2025 US Open is scheduled for Reno, Nevada, February 14-16. This provides Taekwondo Canada an opportunity to ‘piggy-back’ the event, as we have done in previous years. By leveraging the momentum generated by the US Open and hosting Canada Open in the hub city of Montreal the weekend before, we can encourage participation in both events from domestic and international participants. Providing two G2 competitions in North America within one week helps individuals justify traveling to North America for competition.

We did extensive review of how our international partners also structure domestic and international event calendars. The decision to sequentially host the National Championships followed by the Canada Open mirrors the pattern observed in Pan American Taekwondo Union (PATU) events – to host a Championship event (i.e. Pan American Championships, Olympic Qualifier, etc.) followed by an Open event.