In 1927, the Macdonald Tobacco Company decided to sponsor a national curling competition to be named after one of their products; Brier Plug Tobacco.  The Brier was designed as a tournament between the top curlers in Canada and each major association was invited to send a representative team.  The first Brier saw one entry from Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia; two entries from Quebec; and three entries from Ontario - including one from Northern Ontario.  During the early years, PEI did not have a curling club and British Columbia's clubs were too small to compete.

At the time, the Northern Ontario Curling Association was considered a special territory for the purposes of the Brier because of its size and the fact that it was so well-established.  As a result, Northern Ontario has always had its own team entry for the Brier.  The north has competed in every tournament since the inception of the Brier and been crowned victorious a total of four times (in 1950, 1975, 1982, and 1985).

In 1953, the Brier was held in Northern Ontario for the first time.  Sudbury hosted the event and that year's winner was the team from Manitoba, making it their 14th win since the game began 24 years ago.

Two notable Sudbury curling players of the 1940's and 1950's were Sam Rothschild and Bill Duncan.

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