Manitoulin Island woman crowned Miss Universe Canada

Northern Ontario woman wins Miss Universe Canada Manitoulin Island's Madison Kvaltin was crowned Miss Universe Canada.

A northern Ontario woman will represent Canada at the Miss Universe competition in November.

Sudbury born and raised Madison Kvaltin now lives on Manitoulin Island. Over the weekend, she was crowned Miss Universe Canada.

"I just kept praying to myself that this was my moment," Kvaltin said.

"I had given it all I have so I just really, really wanted it."

She competed against 76 contestants from across the country. Kvaltin said there's a lot involved in preparing for the pageant.

"It's more than just the on stage bikini, evening gown," she said.

"There's a lot of behind the stage. One-on-one judges' interview, preparing a humanitarian project."

The 25-year-old is a university graduate and runs two businesses, including one that focuses on body positivity. Kvaltin's humanitarian project involved running a workshop for girls, which involved self-defence and self-care.

"It's about empowering youth, especially at-risk girls from ages of 7 and 18 to develop the skills and tools to nurture and respect their bodies," she said.

Body positivity is a concept she holds near and dear to her heart. At age 15, before entering the pageantry world, she said she was hospitalized for an eating disorder.

She said she decided to get involved in pageants to build her self-confidence and hopes she can empower other girls.

"Pageantry is not so much about being beautiful anymore," Kvaltin said.

"It's about having philanthropy and a cause at heart.".

Natalie Carriere captured the moment Kvaltin won on TikTok. She currently works for Miss Ontario Scholarship Pageant, a personality-based competition for girls from ages 14 to 24.

Girls are given various scholarships for skills like community efforts and public speaking abilities. The grand prize winner receives a $2,000 scholarship that can be used for post-secondary education.

Carriere met Kvaltin through the pageant, and said she is like family. Carriere said a group in the industry got together to watch Miss Universe Canada and were hopeful Kvaltin would win.

"I decided to prop my phone up on the TV and record our reaction because it was looking like she may have done it," Carriere said.

The video, posted to TikTok, has garnered more than 2.2 million views. Carriere said it's huge for Kvaltin to have an opportunity like this.

"To go to Miss Universe which is the biggest pageant in the world, this is the first northern Ontario representative, so Madison is a record-breaker."

Kvaltin will be training and prepping to represent Canada at Miss Universe in El Salvador in November. She will be competing against contestants in 49 countries and territories.