![]() | |
Formation | 2017 |
---|---|
Founder | Angelo Di Benedetto |
Type | Beauty pageant |
Headquarters | Calgary |
Location | |
Membership | Miss Grand International |
Official language | English |
National director | Michelle Weswaldi |
Parent organization | Pageant Group Canada Inc. (2019–Present) |
Website | MissGrandCanada.com |
Miss Grand Canada is a national beauty pageant, [1] [2] [3] founded in 2017 in Calgary by Angelo Di Benedetto of Di Benedetto Model Agency. [4] The contest winner represented the country in its parent international platform, Miss Grand International. [1] [2] After the license was taken over by Pageant Group Canada Inc. in 2019, most Canadian candidates at Miss Grand International were determined through the Miss World Canada pageant. [5] [6] [7]
Canada has been sending its delegates to compete in the Miss Grand International since 2013. [8] The highest achievement was the second runner-up, won in 2014 by a model and actress from Alberta, Kathryn Kohut. [9] [10]
From 2013 to 2015, the Miss Grand Canada license belonged to the Miss Earth Canada organizer, Rosotro Productions, headed by a Montréal-based Filipino-Canadian organizer, Ronaldo Soriano Trono. The Canadian representatives to Miss Grand International during such a period were elected through the Miss Earth Canada pageant. [11]
Canada began to organize the separate event for the Miss Grand International pageant in 2017, under the management of the Calgary-based model agency Di Benedetto Models, headed by Angelo Di Benedetto. [12] However, the pageant's winner, Maddison Fysh, resigned the title, which caused the organizer to appoint their affiliated model –Natalie Allin – to instead compete in the international competition. [13] [14] The same incident also happen in 2018, when the runner-up Grace Diamani was promoted to take over the position after the original winner – Veronica Rodriguez – had relinquished the national title for undisclosed reasons. [1]
In 2019, Benedetto lost the franchise to Michelle Weswaldi, the president of the Miss World Canada pageant and Pageant Group Canada. [15] Since then, the first runner-up of the said national contest has automatically been assumed Miss Grand Canada, [16] Except in 2021, the Miss World 2020 contest was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which caused the winner of Miss World Canada 2020 to compete at Miss World 2021 instead, and the 2021 national contest was also delayed, the organizer then decided to hold an ad hoc virtual contest to determine the country representative for Miss Grand International 2021. The contest featured 23 national finalists, in which a Ukrainian-Canadian model, Olga Bykadorova, was announced as the winner. [17] [3]
The Miss Grand Canada was organized as a stand-alone pageant three times; in 2017 and 2018 by the Di Benedetto Model agency, [13] [14] [18] and the online pageant in 2021 by the MTC-W Inc. [17]
Year | Edition | Date | Final venue | Entrants | Winner | Ref. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2017 | 1st | 16 July | Holiday Inn Express & Suites Calgary, Calgary | N/A | Maddison Fysh [a] | [13] [14] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2018 | 2nd | 26 August | Chinese Cultural Center, Calgary | 15 | Veronica Rodriguez [a] | [1] [18] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2021 | 3rd | 18 June | Online pageant | 23 | Olga Bykadorova | [2] [17] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
The following is a list of Canadian representatives at the Miss Grand International contest.
Year | Province | Miss Grand Canada | Title | Placement | Special Awards | National Director |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2025 | British Columbia | Layanna Robinson [19] | Miss Grand Canada 2025 [a] | TBA | Michelle Weswaldi | |
2024 | Ontario | Alivia Croal [7] | Miss Grand Canada 2024 [a] | Unplaced [20] | ||
2023 | Saskatchewan | Yuliya Shcherban [21] | Miss Grand Canada 2023 [a] | Unplaced [22] | ||
2022 | Alberta | Mildred Rincon [6] | Miss Grand Canada 2022 [a] | Unplaced [23] | ||
2021 | Quebec | Olga Bykadorova [17] | Miss Grand Canada 2021 | Unplaced [24] | ||
2020 | British Columbia | Sara Winter [5] | Miss Grand Canada 2020 [a] | Unplaced [25] | ||
2019 | Quebec | Brianna Plouffe [26] | Appointed | Unplaced [27] | ||
2018 | Ontario | Veronica Rodriguez [1] [18] | Miss Grand Canada 2018 | Did not compete | Angelo Di Benedetto | |
Ontario | Grace Diamani [1] | Finalist Miss Grand Canada 2018 | Unplaced [28] | |||
2017 | Ontario | Maddison Fysh [29] | Miss Grand Canada 2017 | Did not compete | ||
Alberta | Natalie Allin [13] [14] | Top 6 Miss World Canada 2017 | Unplaced [30] | |||
2016 | Alberta | Monica Horvat [31] | Appointed | Unplaced [32] | ||
2015 | Ontario | Jade Caron [33] | Finalist Miss Earth Canada 2015 | Unplaced [34] | Ronaldo Soriano Trono | |
2014 | Alberta | Kathryn Kohut [35] | Finalist Miss Earth Canada 2014 | 2nd runner-up [36] | ||
2013 | Ontario | Natalie Carriere [37] | Finalist Miss Earth Canada 2013 | Unplaced [38] |
Miss World Canada is a national Beauty pageant in Canada held annually in different incarnations since 1957 to select representative to the Miss World contest. In 2017 MTC-W Inc. obtained the exclusive rights to send the Canadian representative to Miss World, chaired since 2016 by former Miss World Canada 1996 Michelle Weswaldi. The annual pageant is held each summer in Toronto, Ontario, but in 2020 the national competition was held on November 7.
Miss República Portuguesa is a national Beauty pageant in Portugal. The main winner of the contest is sent to Miss World.
Miss Grand USA, also referred to as Miss Grand United States of America, is an annual female beauty pageant in the United States, founded in 2016 by a Dominican-American businessperson, Chantel Martínez, aiming to select the country representative for Miss Grand International, which is an annual international beauty pageant promoting World Peace and against all kinds of conflicts.
Miss Grand International also known as Miss Grand is an international beauty pageant franchise that is based in Thailand. It consists of the annual national pageant Miss Grand Thailand, as well as the international competition Miss Grand International, to which participating rights are licensed to organizers in other countries. The franchise has been owned and run by a Thai stock exchange-listed company with the same name, also known as MGI PCL, since its inception in 2013, with Nawat Itsaragrisil as the president.
Miss Grand Thailand is an annual Thai beauty pageant that began in 2013 to select a representative for Miss Grand International. The pageant has been owned by Nawat Itsaragrisil since its inception and was originally broadcast on Channel 7 from 2013 – 2019. In 2020 it moved to One 31, then only on the social media livestream since 2022.
Miss Grand International 2022 was the 10th Miss Grand International pageant, held at the Sentul International Convention Center in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, on 25 October 2022.
Miss Grand Paraguay is an annual female beauty pageant based in Asunción of Paraguay, founded in 2017 by Gabriel Roman of MGM Productions, aiming to select the country representatives to compete in various international pageants including its parent pageant, Miss Grand International, in which Paraguay won the main title once in 2018, by Clara Sosa of Asunción, and was placed among the Top 20 semifinalists three times in 2017, 2019 and 2022 by Lía Ashmore, Milena Rodríguez and Agatha León, respectively.
Miss Grand South Africa is an annual female beauty pageant in South Africa founded in 2015 by Commonwealth Pageant South Africa, led by Anel de Swardt, aiming to select the country representative to compete in its parent contest Miss Grand International. The license was transferred to Zee World in 2016, and later to Maggy-Dee Productions, led by Miss Grand South Africa 2015 "Lenie Pieterse" who currently owns and runs the contest since 2017.
Miss Grand International 2023 was the 11th Miss Grand International pageant, held at the Phú Thọ Indoor Stadium in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on 25 October 2023.
Miss Grand Australia is an annual national female beauty pageant in Australia founded in 2014 by Nadasha Zhang, aiming to select the country's representatives to participate at its parent international pageant, Miss Grand International. Its first two editions were held concurrently with Miss Supranational Australia before being held separately after the license was transferred to Dani Fitch in 2017.
Miss Grand Sri Lanka is a national beauty pageant in Sri Lanka, founded in 2016 by Colombo-based designer and event organizer Brian Kerkoven, aiming to select the country's representative to compete in its parent contest Miss Grand International. The contest was held twice in 2016 and 2018, after that the Sri Lankan candidates at Miss Grand International were appointed instead.
Miss Grand Colombia is an annual female beauty pageant in Colombia, founded in 2018 by Top 3 Latam chaired by Neyder Duarte. Previously, the country representatives were selected by the International Portfolio Agency headed by Elías Tobón and Mara Borrego, either by handpicking or through their national pageant, Miss Earth Colombia. Currently, the franchise belongs to the Bogota-based modeling agency, Casa De Reinas SAS which owns and runs the Miss Grand Colombia beauty contest since 2022.
Miss Grand Dominican Republic is a female national beauty pageant in the Dominican Republic, founded in 2016 by a Dominican American business person, Chantel Martinez, with the aim of selecting a country representative to participate in its parent pageant, Miss Grand International. After Chantel Martinez ended the partnership with the Miss Grand International in 2019, the competition franchise was taken over by different local organizers, such as the Iconic Model Search Inc. of Joe Amhed (2022) and Misses of Dominican Republic-related personels.
Miss Grand Ecuador is an Ecuadorian female national beauty pageant launched in 2021 by the Concurso Nacional de Belleza Ecuador organization, directed by Tahiz Panus and Miguel Panus, with the aim of selecting a country representative to participate in its parent pageant, Miss Grand International. Previously, the competition franchise belonged to Maria del Carmen Aguayo, who usually chose the runners-up or national finalists from her national pageant, Miss Ecuador, to partake in such an international competition.
Miss Grand France is a French female national beauty pageant, held annually since 2019. The contest's winners represent the country at its international parent platform, Miss Grand International. Before 2019, all country representatives in such an international contest were appointed; most of them were the Miss Prestige National finalists.
Miss Grand Bulgaria is a national beauty pageant title awarded to Bulgarian representatives competing at the Miss Grand International pageant. It was first introduced in 2013 when Miss Universe Bulgaria 2013, Veneta Krasteva, was invited to represent the country in the 2015 edition of Miss Grand International in Thailand. In 2017, Krasteva, as the manager of Bok Star Models, purchased the Miss Grand Bulgaria license; however, the license was later terminated in 2021.
Miss Grand Russia is a national beauty pageant title awarded to Russian representatives competing at the Miss Grand International pageant. The title was first awarded in 2013, when a Moscow-based television personality, Anyuta Volkova, was appointed to compete in the inaugural edition of Miss Grand International in Thailand, where the headquarter of the pageant was located. From 2013 to 2020, the license of Miss Grand Russia belonged to the Cheboksary-based modeling agency, Volga Models, which is also the organizer of the Miss Tourism Russia pageant. However, the country representatives for Miss Grand International were not determined through the mentioned national contest; hand-picking was usually done.
Miss Grand Mauritius is a national beauty pageant title awarded to Mauritian representatives competing at the Miss Grand International contest. The title was first awarded in 2014 to an interior designer and model, Dolesswaree Charun, and that year's licensee was Raj Ramrachia of the Miss India Mauritius pageant. However, Charun failed to qualify for the semifinal round on the international stage held in Thailand on October 7, 2014.
Miss Grand India is a national beauty pageant launched in 2023 by Glamanand Group in New Delhi. Its winners represent India at the Miss Grand International competition.
Miss Grand International 2014 was the second edition of the Miss Grand International pageant, held on 7 October 2014 at the Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok, Thailand. Contestants from eighty-five countries and territories competed for the title, of whom the representative of Cuba, Daryanne Lees, was announced the winner and received a reward of 40,000 USD cash. Meanwhile, the representatives of Australia, Canada, Colombia, and Ethiopia were named the runners-up.