Canadian Championship and Canadian Cup History

First try

1983 : For the first time in Canadian football history, a nationwide championship is set up. Six teams begin the first... and the last season of a competition that demands lots of money and energy but gives few results.

The first successful experiences

1987 : In 1986, Canada plays the World Cup in Mexico but has no national championship. The builders of this league want to “bring our players home” but, after promising first years, it folds in 1992.

The Voyageurs Cup

2002 : The best Canadian teams play in the A-League (future USL1), second tier US Soccer competition behind the MLS. In order to reward the best team of Canada, the Voyageurs, a supporters group across the country, decide to create a trophy. Each team plays 2 matches (1 home, 1 away) against each other team, all of these matches being drawn from the USL regular season. Canada has now a true national champion can be, the trophy he receives is called The Voyageurs Cup. However, the Canadian Soccer Association never recognizes him has the country official champion.
2007 : Toronto FC plays its first year in MLS and doesn't play against the Canadian USL teams. For the first, and only, time, the competition doesn't regroup all the professional teams in Canada.

A new official championship

2008 : As the Concacaf changes his Champions Cup for the Concacaf Champions League, the CSA decides to register a team in the new competition. They, in collaboration with the Toronto FC, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps, set up a new national championship. The winner qualifies for the continental cup. After the good work of some Voyageurs, the Voyageurs Cup is kept as the trophy given to the national champion. An official national champion, now !

The championship dies, replaced by a cup

2011 : When Edmonton arrived, the championship can grow up, but there's opposition : some people argue that the schedule would be overloaded... with 4 teams. The competition disappears and is replaced by a cup (but the official name doesnMt change), whose winner represents Canada in Champions League. With Ottawa, the Cup has 5 teams in 2014. CSA promises that some day, there'll be a true national cup, with more clubs involved, as it happens elsewhere in the world. A first sept is done in 2018 with the addition of the Quebec and Ontario league champions, leading to a 6-team competition as that year, Edmonton is on a hiatus.

A new championship makes the cup bigger

2019 : The Canadian Premier League (CanPL) is another try to launch a national championship. This one is played without the three top teams in the country, as they are already settled in MLS. Obviously, the CanPL teams enter the national cup, still featuring the Quebec and Ontario provincial champions. With 12 teams or even more, the competition is longer with more rounds. On this page, the results start with the quarterfinals.
2020 : Due to the Covid-19, only a cup final should have been organized, a CanPL club (Forge FC) facing the best ranked MLS team after 100% Canadian games (Toronto), but also that game was finally canceled.