A strong line-up has assembled in Saskatchewan for the men's and women's events, with rinks decided based on the World Curling Federation's world team rankings and the year-to-date lists.

In the men's event, defending champion skip Brendan Bottcher will look to defend his title on home ice.

He faces international competition from the rinks skipped by Sweden's reigning world champion Niklas Edin and Switzerland's Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic bronze medallist Peter de Cruz.

Brad Jacobs, Canada's Olympic gold medal winning skip at Sochi 2014, is another who will lead a team.

The home ranks feature three skips who have won World Championship gold, Turin 2006 Olympic champion Brad Gushue, Kevin Coe and Glenn Howard.

In the women's event, Canada's 2017 world champion Rachel Homan will defend her title.

Sweden's reigning Olympic champion Anna Hasselborg is among her rivals, as is Switzerland's current world champion Silvana Tirinzoni.

Canada's Jennifer Jones, who won Olympic gold at Sochi 2014, is another strong home skip while Pyeongchang 2018 bronze medallist Satsuki Fukisawa will compete for Japan.

Scotland's 2013 world champion Eve Muirhead is another who will hope to challenge. 

The Canadian Open uses a triple knock-out format instead of curling's normal round robin.

The event runs until January 19.