What league do soccer teams in Canada compete in?

Canada has a growing soccer structure, but many people only know of their biggest teams. But there is more to the soccer scene in Canada than just their three Major League Soccer sides. Here’s where clubs from Canada play.

Pro Soccer in Canada: Origins

A couple of names you’ll recognize from today actually date back to well before the existing leagues in Canada. The Vancouver Whitecaps were actually started originally in the 1970s, playing in the North American Soccer League. That league also had teams in Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, and Montréal over the years. However, none of those other teams lasted long nor inspired future team names.

After the NASL collapsed, a new team came to Vancouver in 1986, aptly named the 86ers. Eventually, this team would adopt the Whitecaps name, and later, join Major League Soccer in 2011.

Today’s CF Montréal got their start in 1993 as the Montréal Impact, playing in American lower division leagues until joining MLS in 2012.

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Toronto FC was the first Canadian team in MLS, however, starting from scratch as a brand new team in 2007.

Since no true Canadian professional league existed at the time, these clubs all joined American leagues at their start.

Today’s Canadian league setup

But that situation has changed. In 2019, the Canadian Premier League debuted, officially recognized as Canada’s division one professional league.

The three MLS teams have been grandfathered into the American system, and allowed to continue playing there by US Soccer and CONCACAF. This is similar to clubs like Swansea City and Wrexham AFC who are based in Wales but play in the neighboring English pyramid.

Both MLS and CanPL sides also participate in the Canadian Championship, the country’s national knockout tournament.

There’s more than one soccer league in Canada

At the lower levels, League 1 Canada consists of three provincial semi-pro leagues: League 1 Ontario, League 1 Québec, and League 1 British Columbia. The champions of these three leagues earn a spot in the Canadian Championship. Occasionally Canadian amateur sides will compete in American leagues like USL League Two, but they do not partake in the Canadian Championship.

Previously, teams like the Ottawa Fury, FC Edmonton, Impact, and Whitecaps played in American Division Two pro leagues like USL or NASL, but this is no longer sanctioned by CONCACAF.

The winner of the Canadian Championship, as well as the top two CPL teams, earn a place in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. The three MLS teams in Canada can now also qualify for the Champions Cup via MLS league play and Leagues Cup.

In the Champions Cup, Montréal impressively made the quarterfinals in 2008, when they were still a second-division side.

As of 2023, no professional or nationwide amateur leagues exist for women’s soccer in Canada. However, the League 1 provincial leagues include women’s divisions.

That’s just about everything there is to know about soccer in the great white North. And the game in the country will only continue to get bigger.

Photos: Imago.