GATINEAU, QC (Jan. 8, 2026) – The 2026 Canadian National Skating Championships were back in action at Centre Slush Puppie in Gatineau on Thursday as new champions emerged and returning synchronized skating favourites showed up and showed out. 

Quebec’s Julia Quattrocchi and Étienne Lacasse had much to celebrate as they took home the junior national pairs title in their first season skating together. The duo scored 97.81 in their free program Thursday afternoon, good for 149.87 points overall. 

“It went pretty well,” Quattrocchi said. “There were some little mistakes, but we’re pretty happy overall with our performance. The fact that it’s close to home is really fun too.” 

“To be Canadian champions the first year we skate together, I think we can be proud,” Lacasse added. 

The duo already has their sights set on how they can improve moving forward, starting with consistency. 

“We want to improve all around the consistency, maybe try some new stuff for the rest of the season and next season, but work on the consistency of all programs to be better for the next competition,” said Lacasse. 

Brianna Dion and Jacob Cote (131.62) and Rebecca Laiu and Marty Haubrich (130.86) of Ontario finished second and third respectively. 

NEXXICE Junior out on top 

In this evening’s junior synchro short program, NEXXICE Junior of Ontario put on a stellar performance, rising above the competition–including the reigning national champions Les Suprêmes (Quebec), with 71.38 points. 

Captain Sadie Denham had nothing but positive things to say about the team’s showing. 

“Today’s skate went really well,” she said.  “We just really wanted to show all the joy we had for the program. We really feel connected to this piece of music and we felt that we did that today and are really excited for what’s to come.” 

Les Suprêmes Junior (64.78) and Nova Junior (59.01) of Quebec sit in second and third place respectively heading into Friday’s free program. 

The evening marked the start of the action for senior skaters as the senior synchro teams took to the ice for their short programs.  

Les Suprêmes (Quebec) stayed true to form as the 2024 World champions emerged on top. Their moving program inspired by Celine Dion’s iconic performance at the 2024 Paris Olympics earned them a score of 81.44.  

“We feel very good, it was such a strong performance,” co-captain Olivia Di Giandomenico said after their skate. “The arena here is really nice. It’s close to home so a lot of our friends and family get to come and cheer us on, which just made it even more fun for us today.”  

“One main goal for us was interpretation. We’ve really been working on it to make the crowd, make the judges, make everyone feel something, and I think we did a good job,” added Julia Bernardo, also co-captain. 

NEXXICE of Ontario finished second, scoring 78.48, while Nova Senior rounded out the category with a score of 77.07. 

For the complete results, click here.