The following season, Wainman won the Canadian national title for the first time and was assigned to her second World Championships. In contrast to a year earlier, she had her best performance at 1981 Worlds in Hartford, Connecticut in the compulsory figures, placing 6th. Her short program was ranked 15th and her free skate 10th for an overall result of 10th. In the summer of 1981, Wainman moved to Orillia to work with Dough Leigh, the coach of Brian Orser.