Ilia Malinin extended his undefeated streak with an easy first-place finish in the short program at the ISU Grand Prix Skate Canada International. With 104.84 points – just shy of his score at the Grand Prix de France – Malinin once again took a decisive lead over the competition.

"I feel overall pretty good with my performance today," Malinin said. "I would say that compared to Grand Prix France, this one was a lot better feeling, even though it seems like the scoring for the whole event was strict."

Kazuki Tomono, Japan's 2025 national 5th-place finisher, recorded a season's-best score of 92.07 to lead a tight competition for 2nd place. 

Japan has the maximum three Olympic berths at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games in February, but with an impressive roster of talent, Japanese athletes will be aware throughout this Olympic season that there is more on the line than simply a place at the Grand Prix Final. 

Estonian Aleksandr Selevko left the SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan after the short program with 91.28, a personal-best score. Skating to Prince with one of his best performances in recent years, Selevko finds himself in 3rd place after the short program.

In 4th after a disappointing 10th-place finish at the ISU Grand Prix de France in Angers, France, Japan's Kao Miura performed something of a redemption performance in Saskatchewan, earning a score of 89.80

France's six-time national champion, Kevin Aymoz, showed once again what he is capable of producing in competition. His nearly-clean program, just tripling a planned quadruple jump, had the audience cheering long before his Lady Gaga routine was over, despite leaving several points on the table. The 2025 World Figure Skating Championships fifth-place finisher goes into the free skate in 5th place, with 87.46, possibly within reach of an overall podium finish.

After a strong showing and 3rd-place finish at the early season challenger Lombardia Trophy in Bergamo, Italy's Nikolaj Memola skated an emotional short program to music from Puccini's 'Tosca.' The 2025 European silver medalist competed in his first of two Grand Prix assignments in Saskatchewan, and with some errors, heads into the free skate in 6th place.

The United States' Tomoki Hiwatashi gave a high-octane performance, beginning with a textbook quad toe-loop and triple Axel, with his step sequence and combination spin earning level 3 and all other elements getting level 4s. He earned a season's-best score of 84.32 and is in 9th place after the short program.

The ice dance event also got underway with the rhythm dance. For the 2025-26 season, International Skating Union has ruled that ice dance teams must use music from the 90s, and the event was punctuated by a playlist of Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, Prince and more.

Competing at their 10th Skate Canada International, veteran Canadian ice dance champions Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier headlined the ice dance event. They finished the first segment with 85.38 points, the highest rhythm dance score of the Grand Prix series so far.

“We were comfortable today, proud of what we did and where we can take our program in the coming months. It’s exciting for what’s to come," Poirier said.

At the Grand Prix Cup of China, Madison Chock and Evan Bates earned 84.44 in China, while new French team Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron garnered 78 points for their debut Grand Prix in France (with an error from Cizeron) and Lilah Fear and Lewis Gibson of Great Britain received 84.38. 

After finishing in 2nd place behind U.S. ice dancers Chock and Bates at the last two world championships, the pair are looking to best past season's results heading into the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.

In 2nd place, Lithuania's Allison Reed and Saulius Ambrulevicius took third place at the Grand Prix de France (in 2nd with 80.98 points after the rhythm dance) and came out extremely strong in Canada with a similar score of 80.89 points heading into the free dance.

Behind them, in third after the rhythm dance with 76.83 points, Christina Carreira and Anthony Ponomarenko skated to 'Sweet Dreams.' The pair are two times runners-up at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships.

Coached by two-time Olympic champion, Scott Moir, and 2022 Beijing Olympic bronze medalist Madison Hubbell, Carreira and Ponomarenko largely are favored for the U.S.' second of three Olympic berths, contingent on her obtaining American citizenship. The duo narrowly missed out on a place at last season's Grand Prix Final and will be hoping to best that result to compete at the Grand Prix Final in Japan.

Finishing the rhythm dance in 4th place, Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, Canada's 2025 national second-place finishers, came out the gate with a nonstop program, but an error at the end of the choreographic step sequence lost them some points, leaving the segment with 75.95. 

Americans Leah Neset, 19, and Artem Markelov, 21, the 2024 junior world champions, skated a fun, fast rhythm dance finishing in 9th place, a strong second-season outing on the Grand Prix circuit.

U.S. teammates Emily Bratti and Ian Somerville entertained with a Madonna 'Vogue' inspired program, finishing in 10th. The 2024 U.S. national bronze medalists wobbled on their first set of twizzles, receiving a 63.01 total score.