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2026 Canadian Championship

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2026 Canadian Championship
Championnat canadien 2026 (French)
Tournament details
CountryCanada
DateMay 5 – October 21
Teams15 (from 6 leagues)
Final positions
ChampionsForge FC (1st title)
Runners-upCF Montréal
Tournament statistics
Matches played20
Goals scored62 (3.1 per match)
Attendance115,909 (5,795 per match)
Top goal scorerBallou Tabla (4 goals)
← 2025
2027 →

The 2026 Canadian Championship (French: Championnat canadien 2026) was 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 featured 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 marked debut appearances of Calgary Blizzard SC, Langley United, FC Supra du Québec, and Woodbridge Strikers.[1][2][3]

Vancouver Whitecaps FC entered the competition as four-time defending champions, but were eliminated in the semi-finals by CF Montréal. The winner, Forge FC, qualified for the 2027 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Format

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The format for the 2026 tournament largely followed 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 could not face each other until the semi-finals.[4][5][6] The tournament implemented football video support (FVS) for the first time, only used for the semi-finals and final.[7]

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

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

  • Receiving a red card (suspensions could 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: Image CF Montréal; Image FC Supra du Québec; Image CS Saint-Laurent
Toronto area clubs: Image Toronto FC; Image Inter Toronto FC; Image Woodbridge Strikers
Vancouver area clubs: Image Vancouver Whitecaps FC; Image Vancouver FC; Image Langley United
Calgary area clubs: Image Cavalry FC; Image Calgary Blizzard SC

Image Canadian Premier League Image Major League Soccer Image 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 (LS Pro) Montreal, Quebec 2nd Quarter-finals (2024)
14 Woodbridge Strikers (OPL) Vaughan, Ontario 1st —
15 Calgary Blizzard SC (APL) Calgary, Alberta 1st —

Schedule

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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

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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 was not held before the semi-finals. The four highest ranked teams were newly pre-assigned positions in the bracket such that they could not face each other until at least the semi-finals. As determined by the draw, the winner of series 5 (i.e. the mostly-western half of the bracket) hosted the final.[8]

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

Bracket

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Preliminary round
single match		Quarter-finals
two-legged tie		Semi-finals
two-legged tie		Final
single match
MLSVancouver Whitecaps FC415
Langford, BC
CPLCavalry FC112
CPLPacific FC1
CPLCavalry FC3
MLSVancouver Whitecaps FC112
Montreal, QC
MLSCF Montréal123
MLSCF Montréal5
APLCalgary Blizzard SC0
MLSCF Montréal224
Langley, BC
CPLVancouver FC112
CPLVancouver FC2
Montreal, QC
BCPLLangley United0
MLSCF Montréal1 (2)
Hamilton, ON
CPLForge FC (p)1 (4)
CPLForge FC4
CPLHFX Wanderers FC0
CPLForge FC123
Toronto (York Lions), ON
LS ProCS Saint-Laurent112
CPLInter Toronto FC0
LS ProCS Saint-Laurent1
CPLForge FC112
Toronto (BMO), ON
CPLFC Supra du Québec101
MLSToronto FC1
CPLAtlético Ottawa3
CPLAtlético Ottawa134
Laval, QC
CPLFC Supra du Québec336
CPLFC Supra du Québec3
OPLWoodbridge Strikers1

Preliminary round

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The team with the higher ranking hosted the match.

Summary

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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

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Summary

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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 Québec6–4Atlético Ottawa3–13–3

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
Atlético Ottawa3–3FC Supra du Québec
 Report
Attendance: 3,147
Referee: Renzo Villanueva

FC Supra du Québec won 6–4 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

[edit]

Summary

[edit]
Team 1Agg. Tooltip Aggregate scoreTeam 21st leg2nd leg
Vancouver Whitecaps FC2–3CF Montréal1–11–2
FC Supra du Québec1–2Forge FC1–10–1

Matches

[edit]
Vancouver Whitecaps FC1–1CF Montréal
 Report
BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia[d]
Attendance: 18,437
Referee: Renzo Villanueva
CF Montréal2–1Vancouver Whitecaps FC
 Report
Attendance: 10,333
Referee: Filip Dujic

CF Montréal won 3–2 on aggregate.

FC Supra du Québec1–1Forge FC
 Report
Attendance: 3,150
Referee: Yusri Rudolf
Forge FC1–0FC Supra du Québec
 Report
Attendance: 3,118
Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauzière

Forge FC won 2–1 on aggregate.

Final

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The winner, Forge FC, qualified for the 2027 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

CF Montréal1–1 (a.e.t.)Forge FC
 Report
Penalties
 2–4
Attendance: 14,081
Referee: Michael Venne

Top goalscorers

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  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 4 301
2 France Antoine Batisse Forge FC 3 101001
Canada Ibrahim Condé FC Supra du Québec 3 01110
Ghana Prince Owusu CF Montréal 3 010020
Mexico Daniel Ríos CF Montréal 3 101001
4 Canada Tristan Borges Forge FC 2 200000
Canada David Choinière FC Supra du Québec 2 11000
Canada Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau Atlético Ottawa 2 002
Netherlands Daan Klomp Calvary FC 2 110
Uruguay Nicolás Mezquida Vancouver FC 2 110
Canada Sean Rea FC Supra du Québec 2 01100
Canada Brian Wright Forge FC 2 101000

Source: FotMob, CanPL

Notes

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  1. ↑ As yellow cards are not carried forward to penalty shoot-outs, 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 hosted 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, was not equipped to host professional matches.
  4. ↑ Typically, the team with the higher ranking hosted the second match; however, the order of the legs was reversed for this matchup.

See also

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References

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  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". Canadian Soccer Association. January 15, 2026. Retrieved January 15, 2026.
  5. 1 2 "Canadian Championship 2026 Regulations" (PDF). Canadian Soccer Association. Retrieved May 16, 2026.
  6. ↑ "Regulations published for the 2026 TELUS Canadian Championship". Canadian Soccer Association. Retrieved February 23, 2026.
  7. ↑ "Video Support added to the Semifinals and Final of the 2026 TELUS Canadian Championship". Canadian Soccer Association. May 6, 2026. Retrieved July 28, 2026.
  8. 1 2 Jacques, John (January 18, 2026). "Recap: 2026 Canadian Championship Draw". Northern Tribune. Retrieved January 18, 2026.
  9. ↑ "Quarterfinals confirmed for TELUS Canadian Championship". Canadian Soccer Association. May 13, 2026. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  10. ↑ "CanChamp Quarterfinal schedule revealed: Matches to begin in July". Canadian Premier League. May 13, 2026. Retrieved May 13, 2026.
  11. ↑ "TELUS Canadian Championship Semi-Final Match Dates Confirmed". Canadian Soccer Association. July 30, 2026. Retrieved August 3, 2026.
  12. ↑ "2026 TELUS Canadian Championship Preliminary Round Schedule Announced". Canadian Soccer Association. 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.
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