League1 Canada (L1C; french: Ligue1 Canada) is a national

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 ...

competition in Canada which acts as the third tier in 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 ...

below the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's Association football, soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary nationa ...

, consisting of the highest level sanctioned provincial league in three of the provinces of Canada. League1 Canada is contested by clubs from three divisions; these are

League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1O) is a semi-professional men's soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The league began play in 2014 and is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the Ontario Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian so ...

League1 British Columbia League1 British Columbia (L1BC) is a semi-professional men's and women's association football, soccer league in British Columbia, Canada, which began play in May 2022. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the British ...

, and the

Première ligue de soccer du Québec The Première ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) is a semi-professional soccer league created in 2012. The Quebec Soccer Federation operates both men's and women's divisions at the pro-am tier of the Canadian soccer league system. The league is pa ...

for both the men's and women's divisions. L1C is overseen by Canada Soccer Business, in partnership with participating provincial member federations. Dino Rossi has served as league president since May 2022.

History

In 2011, the

was established to begin play in 2012, marking the return of semi-professional soccer in the province of Quebec. In 2013,

was founded as a semi-professional league by the

Ontario Soccer Association The Ontario Soccer Association, founded in 1901, is one of the oldest and largest sport organizations in Canada. The OSA currently has more than 500,000 registered participants and provides development opportunities for players, coaches, refere ...

to begin play in 2014 with a men's division, followed by a women's division in 2015. After multiple years of consideration,

began play in 2022 in both the male and female divisions. On March 31, 2022, League1 Canada was announced as an alliance of the three existing Division III pro-am leagues, aligning the national soccer pathway. L1O and L1BC adopted new logos that day, with the PLSQ transitioning to a common logo for 2023. From August 12 to 14, 2022, the inaugural Women's Interprovincial Championship was held in

Laval, Quebec Laval (; ) is a city in Quebec, Canada. It is in the southwest of the province, north of Montreal. It is the largest suburb of Montreal, the third-largest city in the province after Montreal and Quebec City, and the thirteenth largest city in C ...

. The competition was a four-team knockout tournament featuring the champions of each of the three divisions, as well as an additional team from the PLSQ (allocated as host). A.S. Blainville won the inaugural title. The 2023 tournament is scheduled to be held in British Columbia.

Provincial competitions

Leagues

The league champion for League1 Ontario and League1 British Columbia is determined through a playoffs tournament, while the league champion for the PLSQ is determined through the season standings.

League cups

Not to be confused with a league's playoff phase.

Interprovincial competitions

References

{{Navboxes, title=Member leagues, list= {{League1 British Columbia {{League1 Ontario {{League1 Ontario (women) {{Première ligue de soccer du Québec – Men's Division {{Première ligue de soccer du Québec – Women's Division Soccer leagues in Canada Recurring sporting events established in 2022 2022 establishments in Canada Sports leagues established in 2022