The Canadian Men’s Curling Championship, otherwise known as the Brier, is underway in Calgary, but for the first time in its history, Nova Scotia is not competing.

The Canadian Curling Association has implemented new rules, which they say makes the 2015 Brier the first truly national championship. The reason for the change is to allow all provinces and territories the possibility to compete. Until now, Nunavut has not had that chance.

With the addition of the new teams, Curling Canada created a pre-qualification tournament, a round-robin of the lowest performing teams to compete for the 12th and final entry into the Brier.

The round-robin finished tied and Nova Scotia lost in a draw to the button.

“This will be the first time we've never competed,” says former Brier champion Mark Dacey.

Dacey skipped Nova Scotia to a Brier championship in 2004.

He feels bad for this year's Nova Scotia rink.

“They dreamed of the Brier and what they got is a nightmare compared to the dream,” says Dacey.

Curling Canada is defending their decision, saying the system is used in other national curling championships. The organization goes on to say that every member gets a chance to compete and that expanding the tournament is not an option.

“Based on the considerations of TV scheduling and contractual obligations, ticket marketing and time frame, cost factors, sponsor appeal, event logistics and other miscellaneous factors, the 12-team format is the best possible solution,” said Curling Canada in a statement.

Some Nova Scotia curling fans are disappointed their province was not represented at the Brier.

“It wasn't fair to the province of Nova Scotia, or the boys that represented us,” says curling fan Sharon Low.

“Is it a national championship if every province is not there? I say it's not. Other people have a different opinion,” says fan Brent MacDougall.

Dacey says while the situation isn’t ideal, the end result is the same.

“It's still declaring an excellent Canadian champion, but for the teams who are more towards the bottom, it's disheartening for them,” says Dacey.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Amanda Debison