Player guide · Canada

TTCAN rating explained: how Table Tennis Canada ratings work

Your TTCAN rating is the number next to your name on the Canadian Table Tennis Ranking. It decides which rating-capped events you can enter, where you are seeded, and how much an upset is worth. This guide explains how it moves, in plain language, using only what Table Tennis Canada has published. Every source is linked at the bottom of the page.

Last checked against Table Tennis Canada’s public documents on October 8, 2026. Table Tennis Tube is not affiliated with Table Tennis Canada; for anything official, the TTCAN documents win.

What the number is

A TTCAN rating is a single number. You get one by playing competitions whose results are submitted to the Canadian ranking system, and it changes every time those results are processed. It is a measure of recent results against other rated players, not a grade from a coach.

The official list is searchable by name, province, gender, region, and rating period. Each row shows the rating, the period it belongs to, the date the player last played, and whether the rating is still temporary. Club events often use it for divisions like “U1200” or “U1600”, which means the event is open to players rated under that number.

In one minute

  • Win and you gain points; lose and you lose points.
  • How many depends on the rating gap and the event’s star level.
  • Upsets move more points than expected wins.
  • Matches against unrated players move nothing.
  • New players start with a temporary “T” rating.
  • Lists are processed monthly through provincial rating chairs.
After every match

How points move

Every rated match is a transfer. The winner gains a certain number of points and the loser gives up the same kind of amount, read from a points exchange table.

Expected results

The higher-rated player (rating going into the competition) beats the lower-rated player. This is what the numbers predicted, so relatively few points change hands, and the bigger the gap, the fewer points. Beating someone far below you barely moves your rating.

Unexpected results (upsets)

The lower-rated player wins. The table rewards this more, and the bigger the gap, the more points move. This is how improving juniors climb quickly: a few wins over higher-rated players outweigh many routine wins.

Unrated opponents

Wins and losses against unrated players give no points to either player. A loss to a first-timer who turns out to be strong does not cost you anything on the TTCAN list.

Why “going into the competition” matters

Expected and unexpected are decided by the ratings players had going into the event, not by a rating that changed halfway through. Your results from one tournament are processed together in the next monthly run.

We do not reprint the exchange values here because Table Tennis Canada owns and can change them. The tables are in the official TTCAN Rating System document linked below.

Event weight

Star levels: not every event counts the same

TTCAN’s Competition Department classifies the events that count for ratings into tiers, shown as stars. The 2016 rating document describes four tiers, each with its own exchange table, and higher-star competitions use a higher exchange. In practice, the same upset is worth more at a major championship than at a local one-star event.

In May 2020, Table Tennis Canada published a draft proposal for a new ranking system. It included unique player ID numbers instead of names, merging duplicate player records, reducing the event tiers from four to three (most events one-star, two two-star events per province or territory, three-star reserved for the Canadian Championships and national circuit finals), an exchange table that gives more points for upsets while the loser loses fewer, and a separate inactive list with a monthly deduction for inactivity. We could not find a public TTCAN notice confirming which of those proposals are in force today, so check with your provincial association before relying on them.

New players

Your first rating: the temporary “T”

A player enters the list with their first competition and gets a temporary rating, marked T, calculated from the ratings of the opponents they played.

Your first resultsTemporary ratingExample from the TTCAN document
Wins and losses, and your lowest loss is to someone rated above your best winThe rating of your highest winWins over 1950, 1998, and 2010, loss to 2050 → T 2010
Wins and losses, and your lowest loss is below your highest winA median rating from your resultsWins over 1145, 1070, and 1210, loss to 1100 → T 1155
No lossesHighest win + 100—
No wins100—

The temporary calculation repeats with each new batch of results until you have 5 wins and 1 loss, or 15 wins. After that the T is removed and your rating moves with the normal points exchange. If you are new, the practical advice is simple: play rated events against a spread of opponents, because a T rating built from one evening can be far from your real level.

Calendar

When ratings update, and how to fix a mistake

Table Tennis Canada does not type in results itself. Each province or territory has a Provincial Rating Chair who sends the results file; the system calculates the new ratings automatically.

WhenWhat happens
Last day of the monthDeadline for Provincial Rating Chairs to submit that month’s results.
5th of the monthNew rating list is published.
5th to 20thThe only window for Provincial Rating Chairs to report errors. Reports after the 20th wait for a later period.
23rd to 25thThe previous period is re-run with corrections, if any were submitted.

Found a wrong result?

Tell the Provincial Rating Chair for the province where the event was held (or the tournament organizer) as soon as you see it, inside the 5th–20th window. Table Tennis Canada has said it does not answer rating emails from players directly. Most errors it reports come from names spelled differently from the provincial file, so enter tournaments with the same name every time.

Not on the list?

Players without results for more than 24 months drop off the published list, but their last rating is kept and used when they return. If you have never played a rated event, you will appear after your first results are processed, with a T rating.

How organizers use ratings

Ratings make draws fairer. Seeding by rating keeps the two strongest players apart until the final, rating caps create divisions where newer players can win something, and Table Tennis Canada publishes minimum ratings for international event selection.

In Table Tennis Tube you can enter each player’s rating when you build a tournament. The rating is used for seeding and as the last tie-break in group standings. See how seeding works and how group standings work, or read our longer news piece on how the TTCAN rating system works and the Ontario Ranking List. Running a rated-style club night? Start with how to run a table tennis tournament.

FAQ

TTCAN rating questions

What is a TTCAN rating?

It is the number Table Tennis Canada gives each player on the Canadian Table Tennis Ranking list. You earn and change it by playing in competitions whose results are submitted to the national rating system. A higher number means stronger recent results.

How many points do I gain or lose after a match?

It depends on the rating gap between you and your opponent and on the event’s star level. Table Tennis Canada uses points exchange tables: an expected result (the higher-rated player wins) moves fewer points than an unexpected result (an upset). Higher-star events use tables with bigger exchanges. The exact values are in the official TTCAN Rating System document.

Do I lose points if I lose to an unrated player?

No. Under the TTCAN document, wins and losses against unrated players give no points to either player.

How does a new player get a first rating?

A new player gets a temporary “T” rating after the first competition, based on the ratings of the players they beat and lost to. For example, a player with no losses gets their highest win plus 100, and a player with no wins starts at 100. The T is removed after 5 wins and 1 loss, or 15 wins.

When are TTCAN ratings updated?

Monthly. Provincial Rating Chairs send results to Table Tennis Canada by the last day of the month, and the new list is published around the 5th. Errors are reported through your Provincial Rating Chair between the 5th and the 20th, and corrected lists are re-run around the 23rd to 25th.

Why is my name missing from the ranking list?

The usual reasons are inactivity (Table Tennis Canada has said players inactive for more than 24 months do not appear on the list), a name spelled differently from the provincial results file, or results that were not submitted yet. Contact your Provincial Rating Chair or the tournament organizer; Table Tennis Canada says it does not answer rating emails from players directly.

Is the TTCAN rating the same as Ratings Central or the Ontario Ranking List?

No. Ratings Central is a separate rating service used by some clubs and leagues. The Ontario Ranking List (ORL) is a provincial ranking. Neither replaces your TTCAN rating, although organizers sometimes use more than one when they seed an event.

Sources

Everything above is summarized from these public Table Tennis Canada pages and documents:

Support free Table Tennis Tube$5, $10, $25, or any amount — keeps Table Tennis Tube hosting going. The software stays free.Tip