Grand Prix comps and Prize money

I'm trying to find out more about the competitions, especially the grand prix because it seems to have other competitions as a part of it?
Competitions like Skate canada, america, trophe de france- are they like 'qualifiers' for the GP final? Are they even related to the grand prix? Google is confusing me.

I also found that the prize money for the GP is $180k per event. I assumed the 'event' referred to the mens and women's singles and pairs, but now im not so sure if it actually refers to the competitions in the other countries...
Anyone able to clear things up for me? I'm new to all this competition stuff, if it wasnt painfully obvious...