It was quite a birthday present for a former Belleville woman, who will now be part of a national competition that could put her on the world stage later this year.

Stephanie Philbin is one of 67 finalists in this year's Miss Universe Canada competition.

The 27 year old, who celebrated her birthday yesterday, received the good news on Thursday night.

"I am honored to be a Miss Universe Canada National Delegate. I never imagined I would be able to stand amongst such an inspiring and intelligent group of young women. I hope that young girls in Canada can grow up with strong role models that teach them that anything is possible with hard work and a dream." said Philbin.

Stephanie was born in Stratford, Ontario and moved to Belleville at age 7. She grew up loving sports and the outdoors from an early age, which led to her now being an avid golf, soccer, softball, hockey and badminton player. She went to High School at Nicholson Catholic College.

In 2014, Stephanie graduated as the Class President with honors in Business Sales and Marketing at Loyalist College. During her time in school she interned with the Detroit Red Wings, Belleville General Hospital Foundation and completed a teamwork and leadership course with the Walt Disney World Executive team.

The daughter of 95.5 HIts FM morning show star Mark Philbin, Stephanie was also once a member of the 95.5 Hits FM and Cool 100 Summer Road Crew.

She currently works in real estate advertising sales in Toronto.

The Miss Universe Canada pageant will be held on October 7th with the winner to represent Canada at the Miss Universe Pageant.