A Prince Albert local was crowned as Mrs. Canada Universe 2026 in Surrey, British Columbia at the Bell Media Performing Arts Centre on Jul. 25.
Jasmine Esquivel, a 43-year-old local is a successful sales rep, a mother of five, and now, a beauty queen.
“My last pageant in the Philippines was when I was 17 years old and then I stopped because I got pregnant early,” said Esquivel. “Then my life started as a full-time mom and I didn’t realize that, after having five kids, I’m going to be crowned as Mrs. Canada Universe.”
After years out of the pageant spotlight, a simple ad appeared and changed her life.
“I saw the advertisement about they’re looking for candidates for Mrs. Canada and then my friend says ‘Why don’t you join?’’ explained Esquivel.
Following her auditions, an acceptance email arrived in her inbox, and from there, her journey started.
“It [was] a mixture of feeling happy and of course lots of things in my mind. I was thinking about the expenses,” she said. “But I had lots of support from my kids and my family and from my friends, as well the [Prince Albert] community supporting me so they said that we’re gonna do fundraising, and so I accepted the contract.”
Alongside financial support from peers, family, and community, she also explained that she had received a lot of training in preparing for the pageant.
“Since March I’m on a diet, I’m on a meal plan, I go to the gym regularly every day, I have my trainer, and I have a catwalk training, and then I also have a beauty coaching.” said Esquivel.
However, she found that her prior experience with pageantry and modelling helped her adjust to her newfound routines.
“At that young age I have lots of training, and even though I have my three kids already, I’m still doing modeling and some endorsements in the Philippines, like photoshoots, modeling new clothes, modeling in the salon if they want a model for hair and makeup,” she said. “It’s muscle memory.”
Though she has a list of responsibilities, she is “so thankful for [her] kids, family, and community for supporting [her].”
During the competition, she said found womanhood and community within the other 59 delegates.
“They were so nice. I made a lot of friends and they were giving me advice,” said Esquivel. “On the pageant final day, I didn’t realize that I didn’t have earrings to pair with the gown, and then one of the candidates offered and she lent me her earrings.”
Esquivel’s main goal and strive for advocacy is to empower youth and most importantly, to show the world that a woman is not defined by her motherhood.
“Having [children] is not a burden for me—it’s a challenge,” she explained. “I want to prove and to show that even though you’re a mom, you can still balance your time, you can still be a good mother and you can be a supermodel and you can be a beauty queen.”
Her winning look featured a floor length bodycon dress adorned with silver jewels and a knee-high slit, as well as makeup done by Caledon and Brampton makeup artist, Rashmi Sachdeva.
“I feel so happy. I didn’t expect it, but I’m so thankful and grateful to wear the crown and I hope to be a good queen and a good inspiration to everybody,” said Esquivel.
Subsequent to her win, she will be flying to Sri Lanka to represent Canada at an international competition in October.
“I’m the only one who’s going to represent Canada, I’m so excited,” she said.
Esquivel said that she has begun her preparations, even taking measures to contact a designer to create her ‘national country’ look, which she said will honour Prince Albert.
As for future endeavors, she aims to focus her energy towards her advocacy.
“I’m gonna focus on helping the community, especially in part of my advocacy, and my platform, so I’m gonna start volunteering and empower the youth,” said Esquivel. “I need to do my duty as Mrs. Canada Universe.”
In terms of community support, she hopes locals will partake in her fundraisers as well as finding sponsorships in order to fund her journey to Sri Lanka.
“I’m so happy to represent Canada, and hopefully I’ll get lots of support from all over Canada,” said Esquivel.
