| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Sport | Soccer |
| Promotion and relegation | Top division: No Lower divisions: Limited |
| National system | |
| Federation | Canada Soccer |
| Confederation | CONCACAF |
| Top division |
|
| Cup competition | Canadian Championship (men) Inter-Provincial Championship (women) |
| Regional systems | |
| Federations | |
| Top divisions | |
| Soccer in Canada | |
TheCanadian soccer league system, also called theCanadian soccer pyramid, is a term used insoccer to describe the structure of the league system in Canada. The governing body of soccer in the country is theCanadian Soccer Association (CSA), which oversees the system and domestic cups (including theCanadian Championship) but does not operate any of its component leagues. In addition, some Canadian teams compete in leagues that are based in the United States.
The Canadian soccer system consists of several unconnected leagues and it does not havepromotion and relegation in the top division. Leagues in the Canadian system are classified as either professional,pro-am, or amateur. TheCanadian Soccer Association (CSA) is the governing body for the sport in Canada and directly sanctions leagues that operate in more than one province.[1] Leagues operating in a single province receive sanctioning from their provincial soccer association.
TheCanadian Premier League (CPL) is the top division of soccer in Canada. It is the only fully professional, and only fully national, league in the system. Founded in 2019, the CPL is composed of eight teams and is sanctioned by the CSA. Each year, the top CPL clubs qualify for theCONCACAF Champions Cup.
There are also three Canadian teams which play inMajor League Soccer, the division 1 league sanctioned by theUnited States Soccer Federation, reflecting a longstanding practice of major Canadian sports teams competing in American leagues. The Canadian clubs in this league are members of the CSA and compete in theCanadian Championship, rather than in theU.S. Open Cup, alongside clubs from the CPL and qualified lower division clubs.
The three Canadian MLS clubs also compete in theLeagues Cup, a competition held between MLS andLiga MX clubs, as the sub-regional competition withinCONCACAF. The CPL does not take part in this competition.
Pro-am (or semi-pro) soccer competitions in Canada are regionally-based due to its large geography and dispersed pockets of population. Teams playing in pro-am leagues are permitted to be composed of professional and amateur players.[1] There are five of such leagues in Canada: theAlberta Premier League (APL); theBritish Columbia Premier League (BCPL); thePrairies Premier League (PPL); theOntario Premier League (OPL); andLigue1 Québec (L1Q). They are based inAlberta,British Columbia, thePrairies provinces ofManitoba andSaskatchewan as well asNorthern Ontario,Southern Ontario, andQuebec respectively, and are sanctioned by their relevant provincial soccer associations. There are more than 40 sanctioned teams playing in these leagues. These five leagues belong to the parent organizationPremier Soccer Leagues Canada which was founded in 2022 as League1 Canada.[2]
The PLSQ was founded as a semi-pro league in 2012 and is sanctioned bySoccer Quebec. The league includes a team from Eastern Ontario, who compete with special permission from the CSA.[3]
Following the release ofThe Easton Report in 2013, the CSA set out to create a Division 3 semi-pro structure divided by region, similar to the major junior hockey leagues in Canada, with regional champions competing in a national tournament.[4] In November 2013, theOntario Soccer Association announced the sanction of League1 Ontario as part of this new structure.[5]
On October 5, 2021,BC Soccer announced the establishment ofLeague1 British Columbia as the nation's third regional pro-am soccer league.[6] The league began play in May 2022 with seven clubs.
In 2022,Toronto FC II andWhitecaps FC 2 began play inMLS Next Pro, a USSF-sanctioned division 3 league. Both Canadian clubs are members of the CSA.[citation needed] Toronto FC II had played in the division 2USL Championship until 2018 and in the division 3USL League One from 2019 to 2021.
In March 2023,League1 Alberta was founded by the Alberta Soccer Association. With only five teams in the men's and women's division (one short of the requirement for sanctioning), the league played anexhibition series in 2023. By December 2023, league membership had grown to seven teams and so the league joined League1 Canada and received full sanctioning ahead of the 2024 season.
In January 2026, League1 Canada was renamed to Premier Soccer Leagues Canada as part of a larger rebrand that included the CPL and extended to most of PSL Canada's regional leagues. Also announced was a new league for the Prairies provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan called thePrairies Premier League, set for a May launch. Ligue1 Québec was excluded from the rebranding.[7]
There are various amateur provincial leagues that are sanctioned under their individual provincial or territorial associations. This includes such leagues as thePacific Coast Soccer League,Alberta Major Soccer League,Manitoba Major Soccer League, and theOntario Soccer League.[8] This collection of leagues across the country collectively compete for theChallenge Trophy.
There are 13provincial and territorial soccer associations in Canada, with a number of leagues organized as amateur competitions at adult and/or youth levels. Typically there is promotion and relegation plus league and cup competitions in each provincial and territorial association, which culminates in the nationalChallenge Trophy. However, not all associations consistently send representative teams to national championships.
TheUnited Soccer League (USL) manages several leagues, including the amateurUSL League Two (USL2). USL2 is sanctioned and administered under theUSASA and is below Division 3 in theUnited States soccer league system. On November 18, 2015, four Ontario teams (includingFC London, who then moved to L1O) were given notice by the Ontario Soccer Association that they would no longer be permitted to participate in the league starting in 2017.[9][needs update] As of 2025, there are no Canadian clubs in USL2.
As of the 2026 season.
| Tier | League | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional (Tier 1) | Canadian Premier League (CPL) 8 teams | ||||
| Pro-am (Tier 3) | Premier Soccer Leagues Canada | ||||
| Ontario Premier League 1 (OPL1) 12 teams ↓ relegate 1 or 2 | Ligue1 Québec (L1QC) 12 teams ↓ relegate 2 | British Columbia Premier League (BCPL) 9 teams | Alberta Premier League (APL) 9 teams | Prairies Premier League (PPL) 6 teams | |
| Ontario Premier League 2 (OPL2) 12 teams ↑ promote 1 or 2 | Ligue2 Québec (L2QC) 12 teams in 2 groups ↑ promote 2 | ||||
| Ontario Premier League 3 (OPL3) 28 teams in 3 conferences ↑ promote 1 | Ligue3 Québec (L3QC) 25 teams in 2 groups ↑ promote 2 | ||||
| Amateur | Challenge Trophy 13 provincial/territorial associations | ||||
| Division | League |
|---|---|
| 1 | Major League Soccer (MLS) 30 teams, including 3 in Canada |
| 2 | No Canadian clubs at this level |
| 3 | MLS Next Pro 29 teams, including 2 in Canada |
TheCanadian Championship is the primarydomestic cup in Canada. It was established in 2008 to determine the nation's representative at theCONCACAF Champions Cup. The tournament is organized by the Canadian Soccer Association and is open to fully professional Canadian teams (playing in American or Canadian leagues) and the winners of the Canadian regional pro-am leagues. The winner of the Canadian Championship is awarded the fan-createdVoyageurs Cup which predates the tournament.
TheChallenge Trophy is Canada's national men's amateur championship. It has been contested since 1913.
By the mid-1960s, there were four major leagues across Canada including theEastern Canada Professional Soccer League (1961–1967). From west to east, the other major leagues were thePacific Coast Soccer League (British Columbia), theWestern Canada Soccer League (Alberta, Saskatchewan and eventually Manitoba and British Columbia), and theNational Soccer League (Ontario and Quebec). In 1968, Canadian soccer turned its attention to the cross-nationNorth American Soccer League that initially featured professional teams in Vancouver and Toronto. Over the next 15 years, the professional league also featured teams in Calgary, Edmonton, and Montreal.
After the collapse of the original North American Soccer League, and Canada's participation in the1986 FIFA World Cup the originalCanadian Soccer League started operations as a nationally based CSA sanctioned Division 1 league.[10] When the original CSL folded in 1993, three Canadian teams moved to theAmerican Professional Soccer League (APSL) where several had played preseason games and competed in post season tournaments. Later in 1993, Major League Soccer (MLS) beat the APSL and won the USSF's competition for U.S. Division 1 status. Canadian teams continued to participate in theAPSL and subsequently with the United Soccer Leagues merger in theA League /USL-1.FIFA did not allow the U.S. Division 1 sanctioned league to include foreign teams which was why the APSL was never officially recognized as Division 1 before MLS.[citation needed]
MLS would eventually expand into Canadian cities with existing U.S. Division 2 teams. Newly createdToronto FC joined MLS for the 2007 season, whereas the existingToronto Lynx self relegated from the USL-1 and began playing in the amateur-onlyUSL Premier Development League.[11] The owners ofVancouver Whitecaps FC of theUSSF Division 2 Professional League formed a team that joined MLS in 2011, and the ownersMontreal Impact of theNorth American Soccer League created a team that joined in 2012.[12]
One of the other original CSL teams did not join the APSL, they joined the National Soccer League based in southern Ontario. The National Soccer League renamed itself theCanadian National Soccer League (CNSL) with the addition of an out of province team. The CNSL had four teams found the second league named the Canadian Professional Soccer League (1998–2006) or CPSL with four other new teams. In 2006, the CPSL teams restarted in a new league, the secondCanadian Soccer League (CSL). This second version of the CSL was initially sanctioned theOntario Soccer Association and later by theCanadian Soccer Association as Division 3 in 2009.[13][14] Following a match fixing scandal the league was then de-sanctioned in 2014 and continues to operate as a member of the Soccer Federation of Canada (SFC) that is not associated with any international body.[15]
In February 2010, theCanadian Soccer League was granted full membership by the CSA and sanctioned as a semi-professional league. Sitting behind MLS and the NASL, the CSL operated as one of the Division 3 leagues within the Canadian pyramid.[16] However, following the release of a development study and subsequent change in CSA policy for the future growth and development of regional leagues, also coinciding withmatch fixing allegations in 2012,[17] the CSL was de-sanctioned by the CSA in 2013[18] and would not be considered a CSA sanctioned semi-pro league for the 2014 season.
In order to limit the Americanization of all of Canada's professional soccer clubs, the CSA issued amoratorium on the sanctioning of any new Division 2, 3, or 4 teams on November 15, 2010, which lasted until September 30, 2011.[19] Despite the moratorium, the NASL announced thatOttawa had been awarded a franchise on June 20, 2011.[20]
TheNorthern Super League (NSL) is the top-tier of women's soccer in Canada. It began play in 2025, becoming the first professional women's soccer league in Canada. In 2022, former national team playerDiana Matheson and then-current national team captainChristine Sinclair first announced the league provisionally named Project 8. The NSL consisted of six teams during its inaugural season.
The CSA formerly had an affiliation with the U.S.-basedNational Women's Soccer League where someCanada women's national soccer team players would be assigned to an NWSL club.[21] This affiliation ended in 2021 although many Canadians continue to play in the American league.[22]
Various women's leagues operate throughout Canada and the United States at a lower level than NWSL in apro-am setup. As with the men's system, there is often no formal relationship (or results-based promotion/relegation) between leagues. There are four Canadian leagues (CSA Division 3):League1 Ontario,Ligue1 Québec,League1 Alberta andLeague1 British Columbia, which have a total over 40 clubs. Like the men's divisions of these leagues,League1 Canada was formed as an umbrella organization for the three leagues. Since in 2022, League1 Canada has organized theWomen's Inter-Provincial Championship, an annual competition between the four provincial league champions. Until 2024, some Canadian clubs competed inUnited Women's Soccer.
U Sports women's soccer is a league competition for students at Canadian universities. The two-month season is followed by theU Sports women's soccer championship to determine a national champion.
There are provincial competitions run by each of the provincial soccer associations to qualify an amateur team for the national championship, theJubilee Trophy. Some of these are leagues and others cup competitions. Many other primarily adult amateur leagues, some with eight month seasons, also culminate in the Jubilee Trophy. There are indoor (March) and outdoor (September) national championships given Canada's climate.
As of the 2026 season.
| Tier | League | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professional (Tier 1) | Northern Super League 6 teams | ||||
| Pro-am (Tier 3) | Premier Soccer Leagues Canada | ||||
| Ontario Premier League 1 (OPL1) 10 teams ↓ relegate 1 or 2 | Ligue1 Québec (L1QC) 11 teams | British Columbia Premier League (BCPL) 9 teams | Alberta Premier League (APL) 9 teams | Prairies Premier League (PPL) 6 teams | |
| Ontario Premier League 2 (OPL2) 10 teams ↑ promote 1 or 2 | Ligue2 Québec (L2QC) 19 teams ↑ promote 1 | ||||
| Ontario Premier League 3 (OPL3) 25 teams in 3 conferences ↑ promote 1 | |||||
| Amateur | Jubilee Trophy 13 provincial/territorial associations | ||||
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