Athletes from Quebec, Ontario, New-Brunswick, Prince-Edward Island and Nova Scotia will soon converge on the Complexe Équestre Bécancour for the Eastern division of the 2026 Equestrian Canada Dressage and Para Dressage National Championships. Happening October 1 to 4, 2026, this is the second year in a row that the Québec organizers Équico Québec are hosting the Championships.
A decisive competition to crown the Canadian Champions
The Equestrian Canada Dressage and Para Dressage National Championships are presented in a unique format: in two legs over back-to-back weekends in the East and in the West. Immediately after Bécancour, the West leg will be presented at Thunderbird Show Park in Langley (BC) from October 9 to 11, 2026. The Ground Jury (judges) and the Officials team will travel from Québec to British Columbia, so that the athletes of both legs can be judged by the same officials and under the same conditions wherever possible. Following the competition at Thunderbird, Equestrian Canada will announce who will be crowned the overall National Champions in each division and category from Training Junior to FEI Big Tour Open.
“Year two of the Equestrian Canada Dressage and Para Dressage National Championships is an exciting milestone as we continue to build on the foundation established last year,” commented Christine Peters, Senior Manager, Dressage Olympic & Paralympic Program at Equestrian Canada. “The Championships provide a meaningful opportunity to showcase our talent within Canada and, just as importantly, bring our community together. We’re looking forward to celebrating our riders and horses and everyone behind them, and creating another memorable Championships experience.”
Delegations from each province are getting ready
Quebec will field strong contenders in all but two divisions, the FEI Childrens division and the Para Dressage Grade V Grand Prix division. Olympian Brittany Fraser Beaulieu, Pan American medalist Béatrice Boucher and North American Youth Championships (NAYC) U25 medalist Brooke Mancusi will compete with horses at various levels. Young talent will be competing, including Quebec members of the Junior Team of the 2026 NAYC Adélia Gauthier, Rose Lavallée and Léa Landreville Cloutier, as well as other athletes who are part of Cheval Québec’s Programme de soutien au développement de l’excellence: Elizabeth Cloutier (Level 1), Sophie Derusha (Level 2), Juliette Ferland (Level 3) and Vicky Chrétien (FEI Small Tour Open). Para Equestrian athletes Alexandra Vadnais (Grade 1, photo below) and Joelle Trudeau (Grade IV) will also be competing. Quebec-bred horses will be represented in level 1 from FEI Small Tour and FEI Para Grade I division.
From New Brunswick, four athletes, members of the New Brunwick Equestrian Association LTED Athlete Development program will be riding in Bécancour: Megan Charters, who is concluding her first season competing in dressage (Training open), Hannah Verboom (Level 2 Open) who received the 2025 Dressage New Brunswick Horse award for her season at first level, Donna McInnis (Level 2 Open) who received the 2025 Dressage New Brunswick Year-End Champion – Second Level Open and Vivian Demerchant (Level 4 Amateur) who is building on her 2025 success as the 2025 Dressage New Brunswick Year-End Champion – Fourth Level Open and 2025 recipient of the Dressage New Brunswick Lieutenant Colonel James Kupkee Award for outstanding show season.
From PEI, Dr. Reba Fournier, the 2024 Island Horse Council’s Female Athlete of the Year and as President of Dressage PEI will be competing in the FEI Small Tour Amateur division. She is currently ranked second at this level for the Amateur division in Canada. Kerry O’Connor will present his PEI born-and-bred Haymish in the Level 3 Amateur division where they are currently ranked 14th overall in Canada.
Nova Scotia will be represented by Julia Voica in the Training Amateur competition and Terriane Feetham, an athlete in the Equestrian NS Performance Program, will also represent the province in the Level 1 amateur competition.
Ontario will be represented by a field of veterans and up-and-coming talent. Among them, Olympians Belinda Trussel and Tom Dvorak will be joined by international athletes Maya Markowski, Justin Ridgewell and Allie Schmidt. Juniors Anna Swackhammer and Isla Grant, both members of the Canadian Team at the most recent NAYC Championships in Michigan this past July, will also be competing.
“We are thrilled to welcome the Equestrian Canada Dressage and Para Dressage National Championships for a second consecutive year,” shared Carine Blaquière, co-organizer of the event. “The site in Bécancour is exceptional for an event of this stature, and we are looking forward to three days of great competition and social events.” Nathalie Desrosiers, co-organizer, remarked: “We are proud to participate in and promote the development of Para Dressage, by hosting information activities for people to learn more about the discipline during the competition. It is a wonderful opportunity to showcase Para Dressage in the community.”
Equico Québec would like to thanks its sponsors and donors for their support and making this event possible : Gouvernment of Québec, Simons, Élégance Stables, Equine Signature et Saint-Eustache Chevrolet.
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