The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

league in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. At the top of the

Canadian soccer league system The Canadian soccer league system, also called the Canadian soccer pyramid, is a term used in soccer to describe the structure of the league system in Canada. The governing body of soccer in the country is the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA), w ...

, it is the country's primary national soccer league competition. The league consists of eight teams, from five of Canada's ten provinces. Each team plays 28 games in the regular season which is followed by playoffs culminating in the CPL Finals. The CPL champion and regular season winner earn berths in the

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

, competing against teams from across North America, Central America and Caribbean for a spot in the

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The competition was first contested in 200 ...

. All CPL teams also play in the Canadian Championship, alongside Canadian clubs from other leagues. Qualification for the CONCACAF Champions League is also available to CPL clubs by winning the Canadian Championship. The league was officially sanctioned by the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (Canada Soccer) is the governing body of soccer in Canada. It is a national organization that oversees the Canadian men's and women's national teams for international play, as well as the respective junior sides ( ...

on May 6, 2017, and formally launched in 2019. The league's focus is to improve national soccer talent and the sport in Canada, with several rules in place to ensure this. These include a minimum quota of Canadian players on team rosters and starting line-ups, requirements for domestic under-21 players, and a Canadian university draft. The CPL's first season included seven teams, while an eighth,

Atlético Ottawa Atlético Ottawa is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at TD Place Stadium, TD Place. The team was founded in 2020 by Spa ...

, joined for the second season in 2020.

Vancouver FC Vancouver Football Club, commonly known as Vancouver FC, is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club in Langley, British Columbia (district municipality), Langley, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier Le ...

is scheduled to debut in 2023 as the league's ninth team. The CPL is headquartered in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

History

Since the closure of the original

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; french: Ligue canadienne de soccer — LCS) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (C ...

in 1992, there was no fully professional first division domestic league of

Canadian soccer In Canada, soccer is the most popular sport in terms of participation rate. According to FIFA's Big Count, almost 2.7 million people played in Canada in 2006. Professional soccer in Canada is played in the Canadian Premier League and Major L ...

. The only national Canadian competition was the Canadian Championship, a domestic cup which has been played since 2008. Canadian teams played in American leagues, such as

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

, NASL and the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

, while the L1O and PLSQ were created as provincial-level leagues. A new version of the Canadian Soccer League was briefly sanctioned as a third-division semi-pro league by the

CSA CSA may refer to: Arts and media * Canadian Screen Awards, annual awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television * Commission on Superhuman Activities, a fictional American government agency in Marvel Comics * Crime Syndicate of Amer ...

from 2010 to 2013, losing the sanction after the CSA board of directors adopted a new soccer structure in Canada. A new fully professional Canadian soccer league was first publicly reported in June 2013. The reports suggested that

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home games at Tim Hortons Fiel ...

owner Bob Young was part of a core group of investors working with the

and its president

Victor Montagliani Victor Montagliani (; born September 12, 1965) is a Canadian businessman, soccer executive, and the president of CONCACAF. He is a vice president of the FIFA Council. Biography He is a former player of amateur soccer club side Columbus F.C. In ...

to create a new set of fully professional teams or a league in Canada. The Tiger-Cats ownership group was granted exclusive rights by the Canadian Soccer Association until 2017 to establish a team that would play in the under-construction

Tim Hortons Field Tim Hortons Field, nicknamed "The Donut Box", is a multi-purpose stadium in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Built as a replacement for Ivor Wynne Stadium, Tim Hortons Field is primarily used for Canadian football and soccer, and is the home of the Ha ...

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: People * Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname ** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland ** Lord Hamilt ...

. In February 2016, reports of the league emerged again when Young spoke to

Hamilton City Council Hamilton City Council is the governing body of the City of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Since 21 November 1960, Council has met at Hamilton City Hall at 71 Main Street West. The current council consists of the mayor In many countries, a mayor i ...

requesting permission to erect an air-dome over the Tim Hortons Field playing surface between December 1 and April 30 yearly to allow for year-round training for a professional soccer team owned by the Tiger-Cats that would call the stadium home. During questions by the elected council members, it was revealed that the name of the league would be the Canadian Premier League and that the Hamilton team was expected to be the flagship franchise. Further details were expected following the Canadian Soccer Association's annual meeting in May 2016. Reports in June 2016 indicated that the Canadian Premier League would avoid current Major League Soccer markets. On November 14, the first official employee of the Canadian Premier League was announced.

Paul Beirne Paul Beirne (born April 16, 1966) is a Canadian sports executive, who is currently the Managing Director of Pacific FC. He has also worked with the Toronto Raptors of the National Basketball Association, the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Ottawa Se ...

, a Canadian who was also the first employee of

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BMO ...

, was hired as

project manager A project manager is a professional in the field of project management. Project managers have the responsibility of the planning, procurement and execution of a project, in any undertaking that has a defined scope, defined start and a defined f ...

for the new league. On May 6, 2017, the creation of the league was unanimously approved and sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association. Ownership groups in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

and Hamilton were also approved. On May 5 2018, the Canadian Soccer Association accepted club memberships for Halifax,

York Region The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional M ...

Calgary Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, makin ...

, and "Port City" (later confirmed to be based in

Greater Victoria Greater Victoria (also known as the Greater Victoria Region) is located in British Columbia, Canada, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It is usually defined as the thirteen municipalities of the Capital Regional District (CRD) ...

, rather than

Surrey Surrey () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South East England, bordering Greater London to the south west. Surrey has a large rural area, and several significant urban areas which form part of the Greater London Built-up Area. ...

as speculated). The unveiling of the first team,

York9 FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. Histor ...

, took place on May 10. This was followed by Calgary-based

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club, is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches at ...

on May 17, 2018, Halifax's

HFX Wanderers FC HFX Wanderers Football Club, commonly known as HFX Wanderers, and spoken as Halifax Wanderers, is a Canadian professional soccer club in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League at the top of the Canadian soccer l ...

on May 25,

Valour FC Valour Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home matches at IG Field. The team is coached by Phillip Dos Santos and community owned thro ...

in Winnipeg on June 6, and the rebranded former NASL side

FC Edmonton FC Edmonton was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club was founded in 2010 and competed in the North American Soccer League (NASL) from 2011 to 2017. The club went on hiatus when NASL ceased competitive operat ...

on June 8. After a break from announcements to accommodate the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

, Hamilton's

Forge FC Forge FC is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Hamilton, Ontario, that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of Canadian soccer. The club plays its home matches at Tim Hortons Field. Forge FC joined the CPL in 2019 as ...

was next unveiled on July 12, followed by

Pacific FC Pacific Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Greater Victoria, British Columbia. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League, playing home matches at Starlight Stadium located in Langford. History On May 5, 2 ...

of Langford in

on July 20. On August 27, 2018, the CPL announced that it would hold a series of open tryouts in eight cities across Canada for players age 16 and older. The tryouts were led by

Alex Bunbury Alexander Bunbury (born 18 June 1967) is a Canadian former professional soccer player who played as a striker. He played mainly for Marítimo in Portugal during a 13-year professional career, and represented the Canadian national team during ...

and took place in front of CPL coaching staff from all teams. On September 28, 2018, Italian sportswear company Macron was announced as the official apparel supplier of the CPL. Macron supplies training gear and custom made

kits Kits may refer to: * Kitsilano, a neighbourhood of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada *Kits, an American taffy candy made by Gilliam Candy Company *KITS, a San Francisco, California radio station *Kottayam Institute of Technology & Sci ...

for each CPL team. HFX Wanderers FC vs

Launch (2019–present)

The inaugural match of the Canadian Premier League between Forge FC and York9 FC took place at Tim Hortons Field on April 27, 2019, and resulted in a 1–1 draw. Ryan Telfer of

scored the first goal in Canadian Premier League history in the third minute of the inaugural match. In advance of the 2019 Finals, the league's trophy was unveiled. The North Star Shield is a crystal shield engraved with the logo of the Canadian Premier League. The inaugural season finished on November 2, 2019, when Forge FC became the first Canadian Premier League Champions, defeating Cavalry FC 2–0 over two legs in the Finals. Forge midfielder

Tristan Borges Tristan Daniel Borges (born 26 August 1998) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Canadian club Forge FC. Early life Borges began playing youth soccer with Vaughan SC, later moving on to Kleinburg-Nobleton SC fo ...

was named the first CPL Player of the Year. On January 29, 2020,

was confirmed to be the first CPL expansion team, joining for the 2020 season. The 2020 season, set to start on April 11, was postponed indefinitely due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. On July 29, it was announced that the entire 2020 season would be played in

Charlottetown Charlottetown is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Prince Edward Island, and the county seat of Queens County. Named after Queen Charlotte, Charlottetown was an unincorporated town until it was incorporated as a city in ...

beginning August 13. The shortened 2020 season, known as "The Island Games" ended on September 19 when Forge FC won their second Canadian Premier League title in a 2–0 victory over HFX Wanderers. The 2021 season did not begin until June 26 due to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, each team was able to play a full schedule of 28 matches. The season culminated with

defeating Forge FC 1–0 in the 2021 Final, held in December. On November 21, 2022, the Canadian Premier League announced that FC Edmonton would be removed from the league, effective immediately. The league commissioner cited poor on-field performance as well as low attendance and an outdated stadium as reasons for the termination.

Competition format

The inaugural 2019 season of the league included a

split season A split season is a schedule format implemented in a variety of sports leagues. The season is divided into two parts, with the winners of both halves playing each other at the end for the overall championship. Split seasons are usually found in sp ...

format similar to soccer leagues in Latin America. The winners of the two seasons competed in the two-legged CPL Finals. With the addition of an eighth club in

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, the league moved to a single season format with expanded playoffs. The Canadian Premier League regular season runs from April to October. Each team plays 28 games, including 14 at home and 14 away games. The top four teams in the regular season qualify for the playoffs to determine which two teams play in the final. On multiple occasions, then league commissioner David Clanachan stated his goal of having promotion and relegation in the Canadian soccer league system as more teams join the league.

Other competitions featuring CPL clubs

Canadian Premier League teams also participate in Canada's domestic cup competition – the Canadian Championship. CPL teams compete against Canadian teams in

and Tier 3 league champions for a berth in the

. Commencing in 2024, the CPL regular season champion and CPL playoff champion qualify directly to Round One of the

. From 2019 to 2022, the CPL playoff champion qualified for the

CONCACAF League The CONCACAF League was an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF as its second-tier continental competition. It was announced on 8 May 2017. The competition uses a knockout cup format with each round having two le ...

and competed against teams from

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

for one of six spots in the CONCACAF Champions League. For the 2019 edition only, this slot was granted to one of the league's 'inaugural teams' (

, or

) based on their home and away matches in the 2019 spring season. Forge FC represented the CPL in CONCACAF League on three occasions. In the 2021 CONCACAF League, Forge advanced to the semi-finals of the competition to qualify for the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League, becoming the first CPL club to do so.

Clubs

Eight clubs compete in the Canadian Premier League. Seven clubs competed in the inaugural season. Only FC Edmonton predated the CPL, having been members of the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League may refer to: *North American Soccer League (1968–1984), a former Division I league *North American Soccer League (2011–2017) The North American Soccer League (NASL) was a professional men's soccer league b ...

, and also having competed in the Canadian Championship seven times before joining the league. The league expanded to eight teams with the addition of Atlético Ottawa in 2020. For 2023, Vancouver FC was added as an expansion club, while FC Edmonton was dissolved, keeping the league at eight clubs. The province of

has three teams,

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

has two clubs, while

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

and

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

each have one. There are two pairs of rivalries between teams in the same province: the Al Classico between Cavalry FC and FC Edmonton, deriving its nickname from the Spanish

El Clásico El Clásico or el clásico (; ca, El Clàssic, ; ) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions held in the Spanish championship, the term now includes every m ...

, and the 905 Derby between Forge FC and York United FC, named after the

area code A telephone numbering plan is a type of numbering scheme used in telecommunication to assign telephone numbers to subscriber telephones or other telephony endpoints. Telephone numbers are the addresses of participants in a telephone network, rea ...

shared by both teams. Matches between Pacific FC and HFX Wanderers FC require the third-longest away trips of any domestic professional soccer league in the world, with the two teams separated by . The 905 Derby, between Forge FC and York United FC, is the shortest distance between two clubs at . ;Notes

Timeline

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:850 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:20 right:20 bottom:20 top:20 Period = from:2019 till:2024 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy Colors = id:majorGridColor value:rgb(0.9,0.9,0.9) id:lineColor value:gray(0.5) id:Edmonton value:rgb(0,0.298,0.592) id:Ottawa value:rgb(0.873,0.178,0.173) id:Cavalry value:rgb(0.2,0.333,0.149) id:Forge value:rgb(0.875,0.263,0.031) id:HFX value:rgb(0.02,0.129,0.286) id:Pacific value:rgb(0.345,0.173,0.514) id:Valour value:rgb(0.482,0.145,0.161) id:Vancouver value:rgb(0.22,0.20,0.20) id:York value:rgb(0.050,0.420,0.230) id:York9 value:rgb(0.471,0.745,0.125) ScaleMajor = start:2019 increment:1 gridcolor:majorGridColor LineData = at:2019 color:lineColor layer:back width:0.66 #First CPL season # – Text Positions Define $Up = shift:(,1) Define $Center = anchor:from align:left shift:(300,) Define $Left = anchor:from align:right shift:(-1,) Define $LeftIn = anchor:from align:left shift:(35,) Define $LeftMargin = anchor:from align:left shift:(3,) Define $UpLeft = anchor:from align:right shift:(-1,1) Define $UpLeftIn = anchor:from align:left shift:(-1,1) Define $UpLeftMargin = anchor:from align:left shift:(1,1) Define $Right = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,) Define $RightMargin = anchor:till align:right shift:(-2,) Define $RightIn = anchor:till align:right shift:(-0,) Define $UpRight = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,1) Define $UpRightMargin = anchor:till align:right shift:(-2,1) Define $UpRightIn = anchor:till align:right shift:(-25,1) Define $UpUpRight = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,10) Define $Down = shift:(,-7) Define $Downx2 = shift:(,-20) Define $DownRight = anchor:till align:left shift:(2,-10) Define $DownLeft = anchor:from align:right shift:(-2,-10) Define $DownLeftMargin = anchor:from align:left shift:(1,-10) Define $t = textcolor Define $champ = text:"*" $t:white fontsize:XL shift:(-20,-10) Define $I = text:"(I)" BarData = bar:Edmonton bar:Cavalry bar:Forge bar:HFX bar:Pacific bar:Valour bar:York bar:Ottawa bar:Vancouver PlotData = $t:black width:20 fontsize:S mark:(line, black) anchor:middle # other options are anchor:from anchor:till align:center # other options are align:left align:right shift:(0,-7) bar:Edmonton from:2019 till:2023 color:Edmonton $t:white $LeftMargin text:"FC Edmonton" bar:Cavalry from:2019 till:end color:Cavalry $t:white $LeftMargin text:"Cavalry FC" bar:Forge from:2019 till:end color:Forge $t:white $LeftMargin text:"Forge FC" bar:Forge at:2020 $champ mark:(line,Forge) bar:Forge at:2021 $champ mark:(line,Forge) bar:Forge at:2023 $champ mark:(line,Forge) bar:HFX from:2019 till:end color:HFX $t:white $LeftMargin text:"HFX Wanderers FC" bar:Pacific from:2019 till:end color:Pacific $t:white $LeftMargin text:"Pacific FC" bar:Pacific at:2022 $champ mark:(line,Pacific) bar:Valour from:2019 till:end color:Valour $t:white $LeftMargin text:"Valour FC" bar:York from:2019 till:2021 color:York9 $t:white $LeftMargin text:"York9 FC" bar:York from:2021 till:end color:York $t:white $LeftMargin text:"York United FC" bar:Ottawa from:2020 color:Ottawa till:end $t:white $LeftMargin text:"Atlético Ottawa" bar:Vancouver from:2023 till:end color:Vancouver till:end $t:white $LeftMargin text:"Vancouver FC" Notes * indicates championship winning season

Future teams

Expansion

While CPL commissioner, David Clanachan expressed, on numerous occasions, the league's plans to expand gradually up to 16 clubs in 2026. Clanachan also stated that the biggest issue for potential expansion teams is lack of facilities. Clanachan mentioned that the league was looking at regions and owners in St. John's,

Moncton Moncton (; ) is the most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of New Brunswick. Situated in the Petitcodiac River Valley, Moncton lies at the geographic centre of the The Maritimes, Maritime Provinces. The ...

Laval Laval means ''The Valley'' in old French and is the name of: People * House of Laval, a French noble family originating from the town of Laval, Mayenne * Laval (surname) Places Belgium * Laval, a village in the municipality of Sainte-Ode, Luxem ...

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

Kitchener-Waterloo The Regional Municipality of Waterloo (Waterloo Region or Region of Waterloo) is a metropolitan area of Southern Ontario, Canada. It contains the cities of Cambridge, Kitchener and Waterloo (KWC or Tri-Cities), and the townships of North Dumf ...

, the

Niagara Region The Regional Municipality of Niagara, also colloquially known as the Niagara Region or Region of Niagara, is a regional municipality comprising twelve municipalities of Southern Ontario, Canada. The regional seat is in Thorold. It is the southern ...

, the

Durham Region The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, Durham forms the east-end of the Greater Toron ...

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

, Regina,

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Hig ...

, and

Kelowna Kelowna ( ) is a city on Okanagan Lake in the Okanagan Valley in the southern interior of British Columbia, Canada. It serves as the head office of the Regional District of Central Okanagan. The name Kelowna derives from the Okanagan word ''ki� ...

as well as the Fraser Valley area of British Columbia. Other areas with CPL interest include

Barrie Barrie is a city in Southern Ontario, Canada, about north of Toronto. The city is within Simcoe County and located along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay, the western arm of Lake Simcoe. Although physically in Simcoe County, Barrie is politically i ...

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, and Saint John. On August 25, 2022,

Soccer Quebec Soccer Quebec (formerly (french: Fédération Québécoise de Soccer FQS) or the Quebec Soccer Federation (QSF)) is the governing body for soccer in the Canadian province of Quebec. The QSF is one of thirteen provincial and territorial federations ...

's general director Philippe Bernard was quoted in ''

Le Journal de Québec ''Le Journal de Québec'' is a French-language daily newspaper in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and nort ...

'' announcing that Léger Marketing had been commissioned to launch a market study to verify interest in the province for a CPL team. He also confirmed that Soccer Quebec had determined that Quebec City was the best market in the province for a new team. Although there isn't an ownership group yet, Bernard explained that the market study would help facilitate investment in a new team. Also in 2022, the CPL began considering a "serious expansion bid" for Kelowna that includes a multi-use development proposal for a stadium site at the city's Recreation Avenue Park.

Ottawa

It had been speculated that then-existing

side

Ottawa Fury FC Ottawa Fury Football Club was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competed in the North American Soccer League and USL Championship and played its home games at TD Place Stadium. The Ottawa Fury FC were diss ...

would join the league for its 2019 or 2020 season; speculation fuelled by the Fury's acquisitions of Canadian players prior to the 2018 season. While the club remained in the USL for 2019, two of the three governing bodies of the USL (United States Soccer Federation and CONCACAF) refused to sanction the Canadian club to continue play in the US league, and the club ceased operations in November 2019. In January 2020, there had been many reports of an

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

-based team owned by

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

being formed for the 2020 season. These reports were later confirmed when the CPL announced

as the league's first expansion team on January 29, 2020.

Saskatchewan

On March 12, 2021, the CPL conditionally awarded an expansion club to Living Sky Sports and Entertainment Inc. (LSSE), a Saskatchewan-based company. The expansion is dependent on LSSE delivering a

soccer-specific stadium Soccer-specific stadium is a term used mainly in the United States and Canada to refer to a sports stadium either purpose-built or fundamentally redesigned for soccer and whose primary function is to host soccer matches, as opposed to a multi-pu ...

, and the preferred location for that stadium is

Prairieland Park Prairieland Park is an events centre on the south-central edge of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The park is located in the Exhibition neighbourhood of Saskatoon. Each year the park hosts an annual Saskatoon Exhibition variably called "The Ex" (prev ...

. The team is targeting a debut of 2023 at the earliest. As of April 2021, plans called for the former horse-racing grandstand at the park to anchor the north, shorter, end of the soccer pitch, with new stands facing its other sides.

Vancouver

On November 10, 2021, the CPL officially awarded an expansion club in Vancouver to SixFive Sports and Entertainment LP. The team is set to debut in 2023. On April 13, 2022, the CPL and SixFive Sports and Entertainment LP announced that the club would begin playing in Langley, British Columbia at the Willoughby Community Park adjacent to the

Langley Events Centre The Langley Events Centre is a multipurpose facility in the Township of Langley, British Columbia, Canada. The LEC debuted in April 2009, hosting the 2009 BC Gymnastics Championships. It boasts an arena bowl with a 5,276 capacity for sports, in ...

. On November 2, 2022, the club announced its name as

along with a crest and team colours.

Windsor/Essex County

On January 10, 2022, the CPL announced that commissioner David Clanachan had stepped down and was awarded exclusive expansion rights for

Windsor, Ontario Windsor is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from Detroit, Michigan, United States. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Essex County, it is the souther ...

. In June 2022, it was revealed that Clanachan had partnered with

Windsor TFC Windsor TFC is a Canadian association football, soccer team based in Windsor, Ontario, that was founded in 2004. They have competed in the Canadian Professional Soccer League (1998-2005), Canadian Professional Soccer League (CPSL) and Canadian So ...

owner Vancho Cirovski, setting a launch date goal of 2026. The pair have targeted

Windsor Stadium Windsor Stadium is a 3,000-capacity stadium located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada, the stadium is mainly used for Canadian Football and soccer, but has hosted rugby and other sports. It was home to the Ontario Football Conference team the Windsor ...

as a potential home for the club.

Results

Two trophies are awarded in the Canadian Premier League, one to the regular season champion that finishes in first place after 28 league matches, and one to a playoff champion. In addition to equal cash prizes, beginning in 2023 both champions earn a spot in the

competing against teams from across North America, Central America and Caribbean for a spot in the

. All CPL teams also play against Canadian clubs from other leagues in the Canadian Championship, the winner of which also earns a spot in the CONCACAF Champions League.

CPL results by team

CPL results by year

Organization

Ownership

In April 2018, commissioner David Clanachan said that the league was looking at implementing a club-based structure for the Canadian Premier League, rather than a franchise-based system like in Major League Soccer.

League executives

On January 10, 2018, David Clanachan, former president and

chief operating officer A chief operating officer or chief operations officer, also called a COO, is one of the highest-ranking executive positions in an organization, composing part of the "C-suite". The COO is usually the second-in-command at the firm, especially if t ...

Tim Hortons Tim Hortons Inc., commonly nicknamed Tim's, or Timmie's is a Canadian multinational coffeehouse and restaurant chain. Based in Toronto, Tim Hortons serves coffee, doughnuts, and other fast-food items. It is Canada's largest quick-service rest ...

, was named as the first commissioner of the league. On January 24, he announced that

had been named president. Having already worked with the league for over a year, Beirne took on the role of managing the day-to-day league operations. On January 31, the Canadian Premier League named James Easton, a former Canadian international, as vice-president of Soccer Operations. On September 19, 2019, Clanachan announced that Beirne would step down as president of the CPL at the end of the 2019 season in October. On January 10, 2022, David Clanachan resigned from his position as league commissioner. On August 25, 2022, American sports executive Mark Noonan was announced as the league's new commissioner as well as the new CEO of Canada Soccer Business.

Players

The Canadian Premier League uses a

salary cap In professional sports, a salary cap (or wage cap) is an agreement or rule that places a limit on the amount of money that a team can spend on players' salaries. It exists as a per-player limit or a total limit for the team's roster, or both. Sever ...

. As of the 2023 season, clubs are required to spend between and $1,125,000 on player compensation, with a minimum salary of $30,000 per player. For players aged 21 and younger on standard contracts, only 50% of their salary counts towards the cap (up to $200,000 total). There is also a separate salary cap for coaches and technical staff. The league also has several other rules to give Canadian players more opportunities. This includes a minimum of six Canadian starters per game and a limit of seven foreign nationals per team. Additionally, three of the domestic players must be under the age of 21 and play at least 2,000 combined minutes per season. Rosters are limited to a size of 23 players. Given the limit, most teams opt to carry only two goalkeepers, however, teams may sign an emergency goalkeeper, who does not count to the roster limit, when necessary. The CPL and

U Sports U Sports (stylized as U SPORTS) is the national sport governing body of university sport in Canada, comprising the majority of degree-granting universities in the country. Its equivalent body for organized sports at colleges in Canada is the Ca ...

hold an annual draft for university players. Drafted student-athletes are able to play for CPL teams in the spring and summer, and return to their university team by August 15, thereby preserving their eligibility. The first

CPL–U Sports Draft The CPL–U Sports Draft (french: Repêchage de la PLC–U Sports) is an annual event in which Canadian Premier League clubs select players from U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. The draft allows student-athletes to play pro ...

took place in Vancouver on November 12, 2018, after the conclusion of the

U Sports men's soccer championship The U Sports men's soccer championship is a Canadian university soccer tournament which involves the champions from each of Canada's four regional sports conferences. The championship features eight teams in single-elimination matches to determi ...

. The Professional Footballers Association of Canada (PFA Canada) is the

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

representing CPL players. Following a members vote, PFA Canada was formally recognized by the league on December 20, 2022.

Stadiums

The Canadian Premier League has used a mix of existing, built for purpose, and upgraded stadiums, many of which are shared with other teams.

IG Field IG Field (formerly Investors Group Field) is an outdoor stadium in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The stadium, which opened in 2013, is located on the University of Manitoba campus next to University Stadium. Owned by Triple B Stadium Inc., a consortium ...

(Valour FC),

TD Place Stadium TD Place Stadium (originally Lansdowne Park and formerly Frank Clair Stadium) is an outdoor stadium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at Lansdowne Park, on the southern edge of The Glebe neighbourhood, where Bank Street (Ottawa), Bank S ...

(Atlético Ottawa), and

(Forge FC) are existing

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

stadiums, and have the largest capacities in the CPL.

York Lions Stadium York Lions Stadium is an outdoor sports stadium on the Keele Campus of Toronto's York University in the former city of North York. It is home to the York Lions, the varsity teams of York University, the Toronto Arrows of Major League Rugby and Y ...

(York United FC) and

Westhills Stadium Starlight Stadium (formerly Westhills Stadium) is a 6,000 seat multi-purpose stadium in Langford, British Columbia, Canada. It is used by Pacific FC of the Canadian Premier League for soccer, by Rugby Canada for various events, and by the Wests ...

(Pacific FC) are both pre-existing stadiums that were upgraded in capacity before the 2019 season.

Spruce Meadows Spruce Meadows is a multi-purpose sports facility near Calgary, Alberta built by the Southern family which opened in 1975. The facility contains an equestrian show jumping complex that comprises . The current president and CEO of Spruce Me ...

(

ATCO Field ATCO Field is a soccer stadium at Spruce Meadows in Foothills County, Alberta, Canada. It is home to Cavalry FC of the Canadian Premier League. The venue (formerly known as Meadows on the Green) also serves as the home for several equestrian ev ...

) (Cavalry FC) and

Wanderers Grounds Wanderers Grounds is a sporting complex in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and home to Canadian Premier League professional soccer club HFX Wanderers FC. The grounds were originally part of the Halifax Commons. The land was used in the 1880s by the Halifa ...

(HFX Wanderers FC) were new stadiums in 2019, built in pre-existing venues. FC Edmonton continues to use

Clarke Stadium Clarke Stadium is a multipurpose facility located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The stadium was originally used for Canadian football. Over the years different sports have participated at the site. Presently, it is the home of the Edmonton Hus ...

Broadcast rights

On February 20, 2019, it was announced that

Mediapro Mediaproducción, S.L.U., better known as Mediapro, is a multimedia communications group in Spain founded in April 1994 in Barcelona. The company is well involved in movie and television production. The company holds branch offices in Madrid, Se ...

had acquired the broadcast rights to the league. A streaming service established in 2019,

OneSoccer OneSoccer is a Canadian English language television channel and English and French language subscription over-the-top video streaming service owned by Mediapro Canada. The service broadcasts programming related to soccer including live and pre- ...

, carries all of the league's matches, including the Canadian Championship. Twenty games throughout the inaugural season were also available through

CBC Sports CBC Sports is the division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for English-language sports broadcasting. The CBC's sports programming primarily airs on CBC Television, CBCSports.ca, and CBC Radio One. (The CBC's French-languag ...

, ten of which were on broadcast television, and all 20 on

CBC Gem CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...

and the CBC website. CBC extended the deal with two games every Saturday during the league's second season, while

CHCH Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River ...

also picked-up the rights for one game every Sunday. In August 2020,

Fox Sports Fox Sports is the brand name for a number of sports channels, broadcast divisions, programming, and other media around the world. The ''Fox Sports'' name has since been used for other sports media assets. These assets are held mainly by the Fo ...

became the CPL's first American broadcast partner. The season was also aired by

StarTimes StarTimes is a Chinese electronics and media company with strong presence in Sub-Saharan Africa. StarTimes offers digital terrestrial television and satellite television services to consumers, and provides technologies to countries and broadcas ...

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

, 1Sports in the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a list of the physiographic regions of the world, physiographical region in United Nations geoscheme for Asia#Southern Asia, Southern Asia. It is situated on the Indian Plate, projecting southwards into the Indian O ...

, and Premier Football in the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

. The group stage and Final were broadcast in

Latin America Latin America or * french: Amérique Latine, link=no * ht, Amerik Latin, link=no * pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...

by DirecTV Go and Tigo Sports. From 2022,

BT Sport BT Sport is a group of broadcasting of sports events, pay television sports channels in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, Warner Bros. Dis ...

started showing live coverage of the league across Ireland and the United Kingdom.

Records and statistics

Awards

At the conclusion of each season, the league presents the following awards: * Golden Boot *Golden Glove *Coach of the Year *Player of the Year *Best Under 21 Canadian Player of the Year *Defender of the Year *Players' Player of the Year

References

External links

* {{Sports leagues of Canada Professional sports leagues in Canada Soccer leagues in Canada 2017 establishments in Canada Sports leagues established in 2017