Jump to content

2026 Canadian Championship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2026 Canadian Championship
Championnat canadien 2026 (French)
Tournament details
CountryCanada
DateMay 5 – October 21
Teams15 (from 6 leagues)
Tournament statistics
Matches played14
Goals scored46 (3.29 per match)
Attendance63,643 (4,546 per match)
Top goal scorerBallou Tabla (3 goals)
← 2025
2027 →

All statistics correct as of July 13, 2026.

The 2026 Canadian Championship (French: Championnat canadien 2026) is the 19th edition of the Canadian Championship, the premier men's domestic cup competition in Canadian soccer, and the 25th competition for the Voyageurs Cup.

The tournament features all 11 professional men's clubs in Canada—three from Major League Soccer and eight from the Canadian Premier League—along with the four 2025 semi-professional regional champions of the Premier Soccer Leagues Canada. This edition marks debut appearances of Calgary Blizzard SC, Langley United, FC Supra du Québec, and Woodbridge Strikers.[1][2][3]

The winner qualifies for the 2027 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Format

[edit]

The format for the 2026 tournament largely follows previous years. Seeding was determined using an expanded Canadian Championship ranking index, which evaluated teams based on their performance in the tournament over the previous four years, with recent results weighted more heavily.[4] New for 2026, the four highest ranked teams were assigned positions in the bracket to guarantee that they cannot face each other until the semi-finals.[4][5][6] The tournament is implementing football video support (FVS) for the first time, to be used only in the semi-finals and final.[7]

The tournament consists of four rounds. The preliminary round and final are single matches while the quarter-finals and semi-finals consist of two-legged ties. For each round, draws would settled by extra time and, if required, a penalty shoot-out.[8]

A player or team official is automatically suspended for the next match for the following offences:[5]

  • Receiving a red card (suspensions may be extended for serious offences)
  • Accumulation of yellow cards in the tournament (three for players, two for team officials),[a] with the exception that yellow card accumulation suspensions do not apply to the final.

Teams

[edit]
2026 Canadian Championship (Canada)
Montreal area clubs: CF Montréal; FC Supra du Québec; CS Saint-Laurent
Toronto area clubs: Toronto FC; Inter Toronto FC; Woodbridge Strikers
Vancouver area clubs: Vancouver Whitecaps FC; Vancouver FC; Langley United
Calgary area clubs: Cavalry FC; Calgary Blizzard SC

Canadian Premier League Major League Soccer Premier Soccer Leagues Canada

Rank League Team Location Entry round App. Previous best (last)
1 Major League Soccer Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver, British Columbia Quarter-finals 18th Winners (2025)
2 Canadian Premier League Forge FC Hamilton, Ontario Preliminary round 8th Runners-up (2020)
3 Major League Soccer Toronto FC Toronto, Ontario 19th Winners (2020)
4 CF Montréal Montreal, Quebec 18th Winners (2021)
5 Canadian Premier League Pacific FC Langford, British Columbia 7th Semi-finals (2024)
6 Atlético Ottawa Ottawa, Ontario 6th Semi-finals (2025)
7 Vancouver FC Langley, British Columbia 4th Runners-up (2025)
8 Inter Toronto FC Toronto, Ontario 7th Semi-finals (2022)
9 Cavalry FC Foothills County, Alberta 7th Semi-finals (2019)
10 HFX Wanderers FC Halifax, Nova Scotia 7th Quarter-finals (2022)
11 FC Supra du Québec Laval, Quebec 1st —
12 Premier Soccer Leagues Canada
(regional champions)		 Langley United (BCPL) Langley, British Columbia 1st —
13 CS Saint-Laurent (L1QC) Montreal, Quebec 2nd Quarter-finals (2024)
14 Woodbridge Strikers (OPL) Vaughan, Ontario 1st —
15 Calgary Blizzard SC (APL) Calgary, Alberta 1st —

Schedule

[edit]
Round First leg Second leg
Preliminary round May 5–10
Quarter-finals[9][10] July 8 July 12–13 and August 11
Semi-finals[11] September 1–2 September 15–16
Final October 21

Draw

[edit]

The draw was held on January 17, 2026.[12] As defending champions, Vancouver Whitecaps FC were awarded a bye to the quarter-finals. Unlike previous years, a second draw will not be held before the semi-finals. The four highest ranked teams were newly pre-assigned positions in the bracket such that they cannot face each other until at least the semi-finals. As determined by the draw, the winner of series 5 (i.e. the western half of the bracket) will host the final.[8]

Pot 1 (seeded)Pot 2 (west)Pot 3 (east)

Bracket

[edit]

 
 
                      
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Vancouver Whitecaps FC415
 
Langford, BC
 
Cavalry FC112
 
Pacific FC1
 
 
 
Cavalry FC3
 
Vancouver Whitecaps FC
 
Montreal, QC
 
CF Montréal
 
CF Montréal5
 
 
 
Calgary Blizzard SC0
 
CF Montréal224
 
Langley, BC
 
Vancouver FC112
 
Vancouver FC2
 
 
 
Langley United0
 
 
 
Hamilton, ON
 
 
 
Forge FC4
 
 
 
HFX Wanderers FC0
 
Forge FC123
 
Toronto (York Lions), ON
 
CS Saint-Laurent112
 
Inter Toronto FC0
 
 
 
CS Saint-Laurent1
 
Forge FC
 
Toronto (BMO), ON
 
 
 
Toronto FC1
 
 
 
Atlético Ottawa3
 
Atlético Ottawa1
 
Laval, QC
 
FC Supra du Québec3
 
FC Supra du Québec3
 
 
Woodbridge Strikers1
 

Preliminary round

[edit]

The team with the higher ranking hosted the match.

Summary

[edit]
Home teamScoreAway team
Toronto FC1–3Atlético Ottawa
CF Montréal5–0Calgary Blizzard SC
FC Supra du Québec3–1Woodbridge Strikers
Forge FC4–0HFX Wanderers FC
Pacific FC1–3Cavalry FC
Inter Toronto FC0–1CS Saint-Laurent
Vancouver FC2–0Langley United

Bye: Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Matches

[edit]
Toronto FC1–3Atlético Ottawa
 Report
BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario
Attendance: 11,627
Referee: Scott Bowman
CF Montréal5–0Calgary Blizzard SC
 Report
Attendance: 10,166
Referee: Renzo Villanueva
FC Supra du Québec3–1Woodbridge Strikers
 Report
Attendance: 1,300
Referee: Mathieu Souaré
Forge FC4–0HFX Wanderers FC
 Report
Attendance: 3,865
Referee: Yusri Rudolf
Pacific FC1–3Cavalry FC
 Report
Starlight Stadium, Langford, British Columbia
Attendance: 2,043
Referee: Alain Ruch
Inter Toronto FC0–1CS Saint-Laurent
Report
Attendance: 817
Referee: Carly Shaw-MacLaren
Vancouver FC2–0Langley United
 Report
Willoughby Stadium, Langley, British Columbia
Attendance: 2,986
Referee: Iwan-Nikita Jecanski

Quarter-finals

[edit]

Summary

[edit]
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Vancouver Whitecaps FC5–2Cavalry FC4–11–1
Vancouver FC2–4CF Montréal1–21–2
CS Saint-Laurent2–3Forge FC1–12–1
FC Supra du QuébecSeries 4Atlético Ottawa3–1Aug 11

Matches

[edit]
Vancouver Whitecaps FC4–1Cavalry FC
 Report
Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, British Columbia[b]
Attendance: 5,086
Referee: Yusri Rudolf
Cavalry FC1–1Vancouver Whitecaps FC
 Report
Attendance: 6,012
Referee: Michael Venne

Vancouver Whitecaps FC won 5–2 on aggregate.

Vancouver FC1–2CF Montréal
 Report
Willoughby Stadium, Langley, British Columbia
Attendance: 1,803
Referee: Scott Bowman
CF Montréal2–1Vancouver FC
 Report
Attendance: 12,222
Referee: Robert D'Alesio

CF Montréal won 4–2 on aggregate.

CS Saint-Laurent1–1Forge FC
 Report
Attendance: 950
Referee: Mathieu Souaré
Forge FC2–1CS Saint-Laurent
 Report
Attendance: 3,048
Referee: Renzo Villanueva

Forge FC won 3–2 on aggregate.

FC Supra du Québec3–1Atlético Ottawa
 Report
Attendance: 1,718
Referee: Sebastian Noshinravani

Semi-finals

[edit]

Typically, the team with the higher ranking hosts the second match; however, the order of the legs was reversed for both semi-finals.

Summary

[edit]
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Vancouver Whitecaps FCSeries 5CF MontréalSep 2Sep 16
Winner Series 4Series 6Forge FCSep 1Sep 15

Matches

[edit]
Vancouver Whitecaps FCvCF Montréal
Report
BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia
Winner Series 4vForge FC
Report
Forge FCvWinner Series 4
Report

Final

[edit]

The winner qualifies for the 2027 CONCACAF Champions Cup. As determined by the draw, the winner of series 5 (i.e. the mostly-western half of the bracket) will host the final.[8]

Winner Series 5vWinner Series 6
Report

Top goalscorers

[edit]

As of July 13, 2026

  Team eliminated or did not play in this round.
Rank Player Team Goals By round
PR QF1 QF2 SF1 SF2 F
1 Canada Ballou Tabla Atlético Ottawa 3 30TBDTBDTBD
2 France Antoine Batisse Forge FC 2 101TBD
Canada Tristan Borges Forge FC 2 200TBD
Canada David Choinière FC Supra du Québec 2 11TBDTBDTBD
Netherlands Daan Klomp Calvary FC 2 110
Uruguay Nicolás Mezquida Vancouver FC 2 110
Mexico Daniel Ríos CF Montréal 2 101TBD
Canada Brian Wright Forge FC 2 101TBD

Source: FotMob, CanPL

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ As yellow cards are not carried forward to penalty shootouts, players or team officials may be shown two yellow cards in the same match without being sent off. However, these would still both count towards accumulation of yellow cards during the tournament.
  2. ↑ Typically, the team with the higher ranking hosts the second match; however, the order of the legs was reversed due to scheduling conflicts. BC Place was unavailable for both legs due to the 2026 FIFA World Cup and Swangard Stadium was only available for the first leg.[13]
  3. ↑ CS Saint-Laurent hosted their home leg at Stade Boréale as their normal home stadium, at Vanier College, is not equipped to host professional games.

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ Parkes, David (August 13, 2025). "League1 Canada Men's Review: Week 18". Northern Tribune. Retrieved August 14, 2025.
  2. ↑ TrueNorthFoot [@truenorthfoot]; (July 27, 2025). "Langley United has qualified to the 2026 Canadian Championship!". Retrieved September 22, 2025 – via Instagram.
  3. ↑ "ON The Net: September 4, 2025". League1 Ontario. September 4, 2025. Retrieved September 22, 2025.
  4. 1 2 "Canada Soccer Confirms 2026 TELUS Canadian Championship Draw Procedures". Canada Soccer. January 15, 2026. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Canadian Championship 2026 Regulations" (PDF). Canada Soccer. Retrieved May 16, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Regulations published for the 2026 TELUS Canadian Championship". Canada Soccer. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Video Support added to the Semifinals and Final of the 2026 TELUS Canadian Championship". Canada Soccer. May 6, 2026. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  8. 1 2 3 Jacques, John (January 18, 2026). "Recap: 2026 Canadian Championship Draw". Northern Tribune. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Quarterfinals confirmed for TELUS Canadian Championship". Canada Soccer. May 13, 2026. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  10. ↑ "CanChamp Quarterfinal schedule revealed: Matches to begin in July". CPL. May 13, 2026. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  11. ↑ "TELUS Canadian Championship Semi-Final Match Dates Confirmed". Canada Soccer. July 30, 2026. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
  12. ↑ "2026 TELUS Canadian Championship Preliminary Round Schedule Announced". Canada Soccer. January 17, 2026. Retrieved January 17, 2026.
  13. ↑ Zillich, Tom (May 13, 2026). "Whitecaps move to 5,000-seat Swangard Stadium for a summer match". Victoria News.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2026_Canadian_Championship&oldid=1367520500"