League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a

semi-professional Semi-professional sports are sports in which athletes are not participating on a full-time basis, but still receive some payment. Semi-professionals are not amateur because they receive regular payment from their team, but generally at a cons ...

men's

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

league in

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the

Canadian Soccer Association The Canadian Soccer Association (; branded as Canada Soccer) is the governing body for soccer in Canada. Headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario, the federation is a full member of FIFA and governs Canadian soccer at the international, professional, a ...

and the

Ontario Soccer Association Ontario Soccer is a Canadian soccer organization. Established in 1901, Ontario Soccer is one of the oldest sports organizations in Canada. Ontario Soccer is composed of over 350,000 players, as well as coaches, referees, and administrators. Si ...

. League1 Ontario consists of three tiers – League1 Premier, League1 Championship, and League2 Ontario – with

promotion and relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

between them. The top-two tiers consist of 12 teams each, while the lowest tier is uncapped in size. 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), ...

, the men's division is behind the fully-professional

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

. It is part of

League1 Canada League1 Canada (L1C; ) is a national pro–am Association football, soccer organization in Canada. It consists of four regional leagues; League1 Alberta, League1 British Columbia, League1 Ontario, and Ligue1 Québec with each league operating m ...

, the national third tier with regional division, along with three other provincial leagues. The league champion qualifies for the

Canadian Championship The Canadian Championship () is an annual soccer tournament contested by Canadian professional teams. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. It is contested by Major League Soccer sides Toronto FC, Va ...

, Canada's domestic cup tournament.

Dino Rossi Dino John Rossi (born October 15, 1959) is an American businessman and politician who served as a Washington State senator thrice, from 1997 to 2003, in 2012, and again from 2016 to 2017. A Republican, he is a former chair of the Washington Sta ...

serves as the commissioner of the league.

History

Origins

League1 Ontario was founded on November 15, 2013, in an announcement by the

(OSA) that it would pilot the

league in 2014 and 2015 as a key pillar of long-term player development in Canada. The league would be administered by DG Sports, who also operate the province's amateur

Ontario Soccer League The Ontario Soccer League (OSL) is a competitive amateur soccer league in Ontario, Canada. The OSL is affiliated with and governed by the Ontario Soccer Association Ontario Soccer is a Canadian soccer organization. Established in 1901, Ontario ...

, with Dino Rossi serving as commissioner. OSA President

Ron Smale Ron Smale is the former president of the Ontario Soccer Association. He was first elected into the position in 2010. The trophy awarded to the regular season champions of the women's division of League1 Ontario League1 Ontario (L1ON) is a sem ...

stated that the league's core group of players are to consist of U-23s, with League1 complementing the newly formed Ontario Player Development League (OPDL) elite youth league as a pathway for professional player development. On April 8, 2014, the OSA revealed its plans for the inaugural season of League1 which would begin during the final weekend in May 2014. The season featured 10 teams, chosen through a standards-based application process, which were:

ANB Futbol ANB Futbol was a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in King, Ontario. The club was founded in 2007, as a soccer academy, and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2014. The club was one of the ten original founding me ...

, Durham Power FC,

Internacional de Toronto Internacional de Toronto C.F. was a short-lived Canadian soccer club founded and dissolved in 2014 and based in Toronto, Ontario. The club played in League1 Ontario, part of the third division of the Canadian soccer league system. The club played ...

, Kingston Cataraqui Clippers,

Master's FA Master's Futbol Academy, commonly known as Master's FA, is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Scarborough, Toronto, Scarborough, Toronto, Ontario. The club was founded in 2009 as a soccer academy and added its team in the semi-profe ...

Sigma FC Sigma Sports is a Canadian youth soccer development academy and player management company based in Mississauga, Ontario. They also operate a senior academy soccer team that currently competes in League1 Ontario, as Sigma FC. Over 140 Sigma playe ...

Toronto FC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the Youth system, youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, which competes in MLS Next. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 ...

Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan Azzurri is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Vaughan, Ontario, that currently competes in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. The semi-professional team was founded in 2014 by the Vaughan Soccer Club, which ...

Windsor Stars Windsor City FC (formerly Windsor Border Stars, Windsor Stars, and Windsor TFC) is a Canadian soccer team, based in Windsor, Ontario, that plays in League1 Ontario. The club was founded in 2004 and has previously competed in the Canadian Profe ...

and

Woodbridge Strikers Woodbridge Strikers Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Woodbridge, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2014. The team plays home g ...

. The league champion would face the champion of the

Première ligue de soccer du Québec A premiere, also spelled première, (from , ) is the debut (first public presentation) of a work, i.e. play, film, dance, musical composition, or even a performer in that work. History Raymond F. Betts attributes the introduction of the film ...

in the Inter-Provincial Cup to determine the national Division III champion. Dylan Sacramento of Toronto FC Academy scored the first ever goal in the league with a 10th-minute strike against Vaughan Azzurri. In the same game,

Mateo Restrepo Mateo Restrepo Mejia (born April 29, 1997) is a former association football, soccer player. Born in Colombia, he represented Canada internationally at the Canada men's national under-17 soccer team, U17 and Canada men's national under-18 soccer ...

received the league's first red card. On July 22, 2014, the league and the Ontario Soccer Association announced the termination of

's license agreement due to "failure to comply with agreed-upon league standards", with league matches rescheduled for the season to accommodate the change. Toronto FC Academy were crowned the inaugural league champions on October 4, 2014, after defeating the Cataraqui Clippers 3–1 to secure the top place in the regular season standings. Vaughan Azzurri and Sigma FC contested the inaugural League1 Cup on October 19, 2014, at

BMO Field BMO Field is an outdoor stadium located at Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed on the former Exhibition Stadium site and first opened in 2007, it is the home field of Toronto FC of Major League Soccer (MLS) and Toronto Ar ...

, with the Azzurri winning the single-game cup final 2–1 to be crowned champions. As the number of teams in the league continued to grow through expansion, the league introduced a two-conference format with the winner of each conference facing off in a championship match. After the 2016 season, the Inter-Provincial Cup was cancelled, with the winners of League1 Ontario and the PLSQ instead advancing to the national

the following season, beginning in 2018. In 2018, the league returned to a single division, introducing playoffs for the top finishers of the league to decide the league champion. The League Cup tournament was eliminated the following season. On November 14, 2018, the

announced its purchase of League1 Ontario. According to L1O commissioner Dino Rossi, L1O would serve as "CPL's official development league." Due to restrictions associated with the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, the league cancelled the 2020 season and delayed the start of the 2021 season. In 2022, L1O joined

as a founding member. League1 Canada is an alliance of soccer leagues that operate at the pro-am level.

Reorganization

In 2024, League1 Ontario restructured from a single league into a three-tier competition. Existing teams were assigned to one of the top-two tiers based on the number of points they earned in the previous two seasons. The top-tier "League1 Ontario Premier" division included the top 12 teams while the second tier "League1 Ontario Championship" division featured the remaining 10 teams (with expansion to 12 teams in the 2025 season). Along with this, a third tier known as League2 Ontario debuted in 2024 with 24 teams that included existing club B teams and new teams joining the league. League2 was created as an entry point for expansion clubs to the L1O system. Under the reorganization, teams have the ability to move up and down between tiers through a process of

. The 2024 season also saw the return of the L1 Cup, a league cup knockout tournament which features teams from all three tiers of the L1O system.

Competition format

League1 Ontario clubs are grouped into three divisions: League1 Premier, League1 Championship, and League2 Ontario. The regular season runs from April to August in which teams only play against other teams in their division. The top-two tiers use a single table round-robin format while the lowest tier is further subdivided into regional groupings. The team that accumulates the most points during the season is crowned league champions. In 2016 and 2017, the league champion was determined by a single match playoff between the winners of the east and west divisions. From 2018 to 2023, a larger playoff format was used. Promotion and relegation results in the Championship team that is crowned champions will automatically be promoted to the Premier, while the team at the bottom of the Premier standings will be automatically relegated to the Championship. A direct swap between the best and worst sides. The system will be the first of its kind in not just

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

but

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

. A playoff will also happen between the Premier and Championship, where the team second from bottom (11th) in the Premier will face the second-placed team in the Championship in an all-or-nothing game for a place in the top tier in 2025. Since 2017, the winner of the Premier division has qualified for the

. At the end of each season, the winner of the Championship and League2 divisions are promoted to the next tier up while the bottom team in the Premier and Championship divisions are relegated down. Beginning in 2019, the Supporters Trophy was created by the Rogue Street Elite supporter group of

North Mississauga SC North Mississauga Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Mississauga, Ontario. The club was founded in 1982 as a youth soccer club and added its men's semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2016. The team plays ho ...

to be given to the regular season champions.

L1 Cup

The L1 Cup is a league cup tournament that features all L1O clubs. It runs concurrently with the regular season, with cup games usually taking place mid-week. It is not a form of playoffs and all matches are separate from the regular season and are not reflected in the season standings. The 2014 and 2015 cups included a group stage and a knockout stage but from 2016 to 2018 the format was a

single-elimination tournament A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

. Following a hiatus from 2019 to 2023, the L1 Cup returned in 2024, coinciding with the league's restructuring.

Current clubs

As of 2024 there are 27 clubs of whom 4 are based in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, 13 are based elsewhere in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

, 9 are based in other cities in

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...

and there is 1 club based in

Northern Ontario Northern Ontario is a primary geographic and quasi-administrative region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario, the other primary region being Southern Ontario. Most of the core geographic region is located on p ...

League1 Premier

Following the last minute departure of

ProStars FC Prostars FC is a Canadian soccer team based in Brampton, Ontario. The organization was founded in 2013. The club previously played in the semi-professional League1 Ontario, part of the third division in the Canadian soccer league system in both ...

, the league has only 11 teams participating in the 2025 season.

Club details

''As of February 5, 2025''

League1 Championship

The league has 12 teams participating in the 2025 season.

Club details

''As of February 5, 2025''

League2 Ontario

The league has 25 teams participating in the 2025 season.

Club details

''As of February 5, 2025''

Timeline

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:1050 height:auto barincrement:25 PlotArea = left:20 right:20 bottom:60 top:20 Period = from:2014 till:2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy AlignBars = justify Legend=orientation:vertical position:bottom columns:1 Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:pink id:bg value:white id:Premier value:blue legend:L1O_Premier id:Champ value:rgb(0.66,0.90,1) legend:L1O_Championship id:Two value:rgb(0.1,0.5,0.1) legend:L2O id:Former value:gray(0.3) id:Covid value:rgb(0.9,0.7,0.7) legend:DNP_(COVID-19) PlotData= width:20 textcolor:white shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:m bar:1 color:Premier from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2016 text:ANB Futbol bar:2 color:Premier from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2016 text:Durham United FC bar:2 color:Premier from:01/01/2016 till:01/01/2018 text:Durham United FA bar:2 color:Premier from:01/01/2019 till:12/31/2019 text: bar:2 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2021 text:Pickering FC bar:2 color:Premier from:01/01/2022 till:12/31/2022 text: bar:2 color:Champ from:01/01/2024 till:end text: bar:3 color:Premier from:01/01/2014 till:07/01/2014 text:Int. Tor. bar:4 color:Premier from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2015 text:Cataraqui bar:4 color:Premier from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2017 text:Kingston Clippers bar:5 color:Premier from:01/01/2014 till:12/31/2019 text:Master's Futbol bar:5 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:5 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2023 text: bar:5 color:Champ from:01/01/2024 till:end text: bar:6 color:Premier from:01/01/2014 till:12/31/2019 text:Sigma FC bar:6 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:6 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:end text: bar:7 color:Premier from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2017 text:Toronto FC Academy bar:7 color:Premier from:01/01/2017 till:01/01/2019 text:Toronto FC III bar:7 color:Champ from:01/01/2024 till:12/31/2024 text:TFC Academy bar:8 color:Premier from:01/01/2014 till:12/31/2019 text:Vaughan Azzurri bar:8 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:8 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:end text: bar:9 color:Premier from:01/01/2014 till:01/01/2017 text:Windsor Stars bar:9 color:Premier from:01/01/2017 till:12/31/2019 text:Windsor TFC bar:9 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:9 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2022 text: bar:9 color:Premier from:01/01/2023 till:12/31/2024 text:Windsor City FC bar:9 color:Champ from:01/01/2024 till:end text: bar:10 color:Premier from:01/01/2014 till:12/31/2019 text:Woodbridge Strikers bar:10 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:10 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:end text: bar:11 color:Premier from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2019 text:Oakville Blue Devils FC bar:11 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:11 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2024 text:Blue Devils FC bar:11 color:Premier from:01/01/2025 till:end text:Oakville SC bar:12 color:Premier from:01/01/2015 till:12/31/2019 text:ProStars FC bar:12 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:12 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2024 text: bar:13 color:Premier from:01/01/2015 till:01/01/2019 text:Sanjaxx Lions bar:14 color:Premier from:01/01/2016 till:01/01/2017 text:Aurora Utd. bar:14 color:Premier from:01/01/2017 till:12/31/2019 text:Aurora FC bar:14 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:15 color:Premier from:01/01/2016 till:12/31/2019 text:FC London bar:15 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:15 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2023 text: bar:15 color:Champ from:01/01/2024 till:12/31/2024 text: bar:15 color:Premier from:01/01/2025 till:end text: bar:16 color:Premier from:01/01/2016 till:12/31/2019 text:North Mississauga SC bar:16 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:16 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2023 text: bar:16 color:Premier from:01/01/2024 till:end text: bar:17 color:Premier from:01/01/2016 till:01/01/2018 text:North Toronto Nitros bar:17 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:17 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:end text: bar:18 color:Premier from:01/01/2016 till:12/31/2019 text:Toronto Skillz FC bar:18 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2021 text: bar:19 color:Premier from:01/01/2017 till:01/01/2020 text:Ottawa South United bar:20 color:Premier from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text:Alliance United FC bar:20 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2021 text: bar:20 color:Premier from:01/01/2022 till:end text: bar:21 color:Premier from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text:Darby FC bar:21 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:21 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2023 text: bar:21 color:Champ from:01/01/2024 till:12/31/2024 text: bar:21 color:Champ from:01/01/2025 till:12/31/2025 text: Whitby FC bar:22 color:Premier from:01/01/2018 till:12/31/2019 text:Unionville Milliken SC bar:22 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2020 text: bar:22 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2023 text: bar:22 color:Champ from:01/01/2024 till:end text: bar:23 color:Covid from:01/01/2020 till:12/31/2021 text:Hamilton United bar:23 color:Premier from:01/01/2022 till:12/31/2024 text: bar:23 color:Champ from:01/01/2025 till:end text: bar:24 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2021 text:1812 FC bar:25 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:12/31/2024 text:Guelph United bar:25 color:Champ from:01/01/2025 till:end text: bar:26 color:Premier from:01/01/2021 till:end text:Scrosoppi FC bar:27 color:Covid from:01/01/2021 till:end text:St. Catharines Roma Wolves bar:27 color:Premier from:01/01/2022 till:12/31/2023 text: bar:27 color:Champ from:01/01/2024 till:12/31/2024 text: bar:27 color:Premier from:01/01/2025 till:end text: bar:28 color:Covid from:01/01/2021 till:end text:Waterloo Utd. bar:28 color:Premier from:01/01/2022 till:12/31/2023 text:BVB IA Waterloo bar:28 color:Champ from:01/01/2024 till:12/31/2024 text: bar:28 color:Champ from:01/01/2025 till:end text:Waterloo Utd. bar:29 color:Premier from:01/01/2022 till:end text:Burlington SC bar:30 color:Premier from:01/01/2022 till:12/31/2023 text:Electric City FC bar:31 color:Premier from:01/01/2022 till:end text:Simcoe County Rovers bar:32 color:Two from:01/01/2024 till:12/31/2024 text:Sudbury Cyclones bar:32 color:Champ from:01/01/2025 till:end bar:33 color:Two from:01/01/2024 till:12/31/2024 text:The Borough FC bar:33 color:Champ from:01/01/2025 till:end bar:34 color:Two from:01/01/2024 till:end text:Rush Canada SA bar:35 color:Two from:01/01/2025 till:end text:Cambridge United bar:36 color:Two from:01/01/2025 till:end text:Railway City FC bar:37 color:Champ from:01/01/2025 till:end text:York United Academy ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:2014 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:

Former clubs

Organization

Regulations

League1 Ontario was founded with a series of values, objectives and standards all aimed at furthering the league's stated objective of improving player development in Ontario and Canada. Some of these regulations include: * Standards-based club licensing, renewed annually (not a franchise/ownership model). Standards include technical, organizational, facility and financial criteria. * Maximum of 3 non-Canadian players per club. * Maximum of 7 substitutions per match. * Maximum of 9 substitutes can be named to the bench. League1 Ontario is an open-age league however there are several rules designed to give playing opportunities to young players. For the 2022 season, teams were required to have at least eight U-23 players on each match-day roster and to give U-20 players a total of at least 2,000 minutes across the regular season. In 2024, the "eight U-23 player rule" was removed and replaced by a minutes quota. U-23 players must now play at least 41% of available minutes across the season (9,000 in Premier division) and U-20 players must play 11% of available minutes (2,500 in Premier division).

Honours

Bold indicates clubs playing in

2024 League1 Ontario season The 2024 Men's League1 Ontario season is the tenth of League1 Ontario, a Division 3 men's soccer league in the Canadian soccer pyramid and the highest level of soccer based in the Canadian province of Ontario. Starting from this season, the lea ...

. From 2016 to 2023, the winner of the playoffs determined the league champion.

Yearly results

Reserve division

In 2019, L1O launched a men's U21 Reserve Division open to existing League1 Ontario or Ontario Player Development League license holders. The inaugural year will consist of a 12-game summer season and a separate 10-game fall season. Nine teams will participate in the 2019 summer season with a possibility of more teams joining for the fall.

Players who earned national team caps while in L1O

The following players have earned a senior national team cap while playing in League1 Ontario (the year of their first cap while playing in the league is listed). Players who earned caps before or after playing in League1 Ontario are not included, unless they also earned caps while in the league. This section also does not include youth caps (U23 or below).

References

External links

* {{CONCACAF third leagues Soccer leagues in Canada Canada, Ontario Soccer leagues in Ontario Sports leagues established in 2013 2013 establishments in Ontario League1 Canada

History

Origins

Reorganization

Competition format

L1 Cup

Current clubs

League1 Premier

Club details

League1 Championship

Club details

League2 Ontario

Club details

Timeline

Former clubs

Organization

Regulations

Honours

Yearly results

Reserve division

Players who earned national team caps while in L1O

See also

References

External links