The Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship (CUMRC) announces the draw and bracket for the 2026 Lougheed Wealth Management McTavish Cup presented by For the Love of the Game. Trinity Western University hosts the tournament at the STADIUM at Langley Events Centre in Langley, BC. Play runs Tuesday, November 17 to Saturday, November 21, 2026.
Region Champions are placed in the draw in the order their regions finished at the previous year’s McTavish Cup, and no team plays an opponent from its own region in the quarterfinals.
The Draw
The eight participating teams, in draw order:
- University of Guelph, OUA Champion
- École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS), RSEQ Champion
- University of British Columbia, BC Champion
- Université de Montréal, RSEQ Runner-Up
- Trinity Western University, Host
- Western University, OUA Runner-Up
- Dalhousie University, Atlantic Champion
- University of British Columbia Okanagan, Prairies Champion
How the Draw Was Set
The Draw Committee’s decision was unanimous. Region Champions were placed in the draw in the order their regions finished at the 2025 McTavish Cup: OUA, RSEQ, BC, Atlantic, Prairies. That placed Guelph 1st, ÉTS 2nd and UBC 3rd.
The Committee then set draw positions 4 through 8:
- 4th, Montréal: Earned on the strength of an undefeated 6-0 RSEQ regular season.
- 5th, Trinity Western: Placed 5th to avoid a BC vs. BC quarterfinal against UBC, which would have occurred had the host been placed 6th.
- 6th, Western: OUA Runner-Up.
- 7th and 8th, Dalhousie and UBC Okanagan: Placed in their regions’ 2025 order, Atlantic ahead of Prairies. Interconference results between Atlantic and OUA teams placed Dalhousie below Western.
The Playing Regulations set out the full process.
1.4.1 Seeding Principles and Considerations
The Men’s Rugby seeding principles are as follows:
- Results of Region playoffs must be respected.
- Region match ups between the Champion and Runner-up of the same region will be avoided on Day 1.
- Previous year’s final seedings will be taken into consideration such that a Region Champion shall be seeded higher than the Region Champion from a lower finishing Region from the previous year.
- Region Runner-ups and Region third berths (if allocated) shall be seeded by taking into consideration previous year’s Championship results and interconference play.
1.4.2 Draw
The draw is defined as how a team is scheduled into the tournament: 1 vs 8, 4 vs 5, 2 vs 7, 3 vs 6.
1.4.3 Draw Committee
The draw committee is composed of all CUMRC Board members who are neither employed or associated in a volunteer capacity with any of the participating Universities. The CUMRC Board may add additional members to the draw committee at their sole discretion.
1.4.4 Draw Process for Completing the Draw
- The five Regions will be put in order based on final standing of the highest finishing team from each region at the previous year’s Championship. Final Region standings from the 2025 McTavish Cup are:
- OUA
- RSEQ
- BC
- Atlantic
- Prairies
- The remaining three berths (OUA2, RSEQ2 and Host) will be positioned in the draw order while respecting the Seeding Principles and Considerations in section 1.4.1.
- Note: A Region Runner-Up may end up above another Region Champion if the Draw Committee considers the strength of a region to be significantly stronger than another.
1.4.5 Draw Procedures
- Immediately following the completion of the Regional Championships, the CUMRC will release the final draw and schedule.
- There shall be no appeal of decisions regarding at-large berth selections (if applicable) or seeding.
The full Playing Regulations are available on www.cumrc.com under Tournament, then Rules and Regulations.
Quarterfinals and Schedule
Quarterfinals are Tuesday, November 17 (all times Pacific):
- 11:00 a.m., 3 vs 6: University of British Columbia vs. Western University
- 2:00 p.m., 2 vs 7: École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS) vs. Dalhousie University
- 5:00 p.m., 4 vs 5: Université de Montréal vs. Trinity Western University (Host)
- 7:30 p.m., 1 vs 8: University of Guelph vs. University of British Columbia Okanagan
Game Day 2 is Thursday, November 19.
- 11:00 a.m., Consolation semifinal: losers of UBC vs. Western and ÉTS vs. Dalhousie
- 2:00 p.m., Consolation semifinal: losers of Montréal vs. Trinity Western and Guelph vs. UBC Okanagan
- 5:00 p.m., Championship semifinal: winners of UBC vs. Western and ÉTS vs. Dalhousie
- 7:30 p.m., Championship semifinal: winners of Montréal vs. Trinity Western and Guelph vs. UBC Okanagan
Finals Day is Saturday, November 21.
- 9:00 a.m., Seventh-place game
- 11:30 a.m., Fifth-place game
- 2:00 p.m., Bronze-medal match
- 5:00 p.m., Gold-medal match for the McTavish Cup
Watch and Attend
All games are played at the STADIUM at Langley Events Centre and stream live on CBC Sports, with a French-language feed for Day 2 and 3 of competition. Game links are on the 2026 Schedule page.
Tickets are available at 2026 McTavish Cup – the STADIUM at Langley Events Centre – Langley – Nov 17, 2026 · Showpass.