2025 Canadian Premier League season

Professional soccer league season

Football league season

Canadian Premier LeagueSeason| 2025

|

Dates| April 5 – October 18 (regular season)
October 22 – November 9 (playoffs)
Matches played| 3
Goals scored| 7 (2.33 per match)
Highest attendance| 7,963
Forge 1–0 Cavalry
(April 5)

← 2024

2026 →

All statistics correct as of April 5, 2025.

The 2025 Canadian Premier League season is the seventh season of the Canadian Premier League, the top level of Canadian soccer. Cavalry FC are the defending champions, having defeated Forge FC in the 2024 final.[1]

## Rule changes

[edit]

The CPL's total player compensation budget was increased by $69,500 to a total of $1,182,000 (or $1,282,000 for teams maximizing the U-21 salary incentive).[2][3] Beginning in 2025, players who have three seasons of CPL experience or have lived in Canada for at least three years are considered domestic players for roster purposes.[2]

## Teams

[edit]

Forge

Cavalry

Pacific

Wanderers

York

Valour

Vancouver

Ottawa

Location of the 2025 Canadian Premier League teams

The same eight teams that competed in the 2024 season are competing in the 2025 season, though this is expected to be the last season with eight teams, with expansion anticipated for 2026.[4]

Club  | Results  | Location  | Stadium  | Capacity

|
|
|
|

Atlético Ottawa | details | Ottawa, Ontario  | TD Place Stadium | 24,000
Cavalry FC | details | Foothills County, Alberta  | ATCO Field | 6,000
Forge FC | details | Hamilton, Ontario  | Hamilton Stadium | 23,218
HFX Wanderers FC | details | Halifax, Nova Scotia  | Wanderers Grounds | 6,500
Pacific FC | details | Langford, British Columbia  | Starlight Stadium | 6,000
Valour FC | details | Winnipeg, Manitoba  | Princess Auto Stadium | 32,343
Vancouver FC | details | Langley, British Columbia  | Willoughby Community Park | 6,560
York United FC | details | Toronto, Ontario  | York Lions Stadium | 4,000

### Coaching changes

[edit]

Team  | Outgoing coach  | Manner of departure  | Date of vacancy  | Position in table  | Incoming coach  | Date of appointment

|
|
|
|
|
|

York United |  Benjamín Mora[5] | End of contract  | November 10, 2024  | Pre-season |  Mauro Eustáquio[6] | November 21, 2024
Atlético Ottawa |  Carlos González[7] | Mutual consent  | November 21, 2024  |  Diego Mejía[8] | January 15, 2025

## Regular season

[edit]

### Format

[edit]

The regular season is played as a quadruple round-robin, with each team playing the other seven teams twice at home and twice away between April and October. The regular season winner (the team ranked first after all 28 games) will qualify for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup and the top five teams will qualify for the playoffs; the top two will get byes to the first semifinal. If the regular season winner also wins the 2025 CPL Final, then the second-highest seeded team regular season will qualify for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup.[9]

### Standings

[edit]

Pos | Team  | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Playoff qualification

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Pacific | 1  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 2  | 0  | +2  | 3  | First semifinal and 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup
2  | Forge | 1  | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 0  | +1  | 3  | First semifinal
3  | HFX Wanderers | 1  | 0  | 1  | 0  | 2  | 2  | 0  | 1  | Quarterfinal
4  | Atlético Ottawa | 1  | 0  | 1  | 0  | 2  | 2  | 0  | 1  | Play-in round
5  | Vancouver | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0
6  | York United | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  | 0  |
7  | Cavalry | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 0  | 1  | −1  | 0
8  | Valour | 1  | 0  | 0  | 1  | 0  | 2  | −2  | 0

Updated to match(es) played on April 5, 2025. Source: CanPL
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Total number of wins; 3) Head-to-head; 4) Goal differential; 5) Goals for; 6) Away goals differential; 7) Away goals for; 8) Home goals differential; 9) Home goals for; 10) Fewest disciplinary points (Yellow cards count for one point and red cards [direct or accumulation of two yellow cards] count as three points); 11) Most under-21 domestic player minutes; 12) Coin toss (tie between two (2) clubs) or drawing of lots (tie between three (3) or more clubs).[10]

### Results

[edit]

Home \ Away  | ATO | CAV | FOR | HFX | PAC | VAL | VFC | YRK

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Atlético Ottawa |  | Aug 23 | Jul 13 | 2–2  | May 3 | May 10 | Aug 30 | Apr 19
| Sep 27 | Sep 21 | Jul 18 | Sep 6 | Jun 15 | Oct 12 | Aug 3
Cavalry | Apr 26 |  | Aug 30 | Aug 9 | May 17 | May 25 | Apr 18 | Jun 8
Jun 28 |  | Oct 10 | Sep 13 | Jun 21 | Sep 20 | Aug 17 | Jul 26
Forge | May 13 | 1–0 |  | Jun 8 | Jul 18 | Apr 19 | Jul 5 | Jun 29
Aug 15 | May 31 |  | Sep 6 | Sep 27 | Aug 2 | Oct 4 | Oct 18
HFX Wanderers | May 24 | May 10 | May 3 |  | Apr 19 | Jul 1 | Jun 21 | Sep 1
Oct 18 | Jun 14 | Jul 25 |  | Sep 20 | Aug 22 | Aug 4 | Oct 4
Pacific | Jun 7 | Aug 4 | Apr 12 | Jul 12 |  | 2–0  | Jun 27 | May 10
Jul 26 | Oct 5 | May 24 | Aug 16 |  | Oct 18 | Sep 13 | Jun 14
Valour | Aug 10 | Jul 20 | Jun 22 | Apr 25 | Jun 1 |  | May 3 | May 16
Oct 5 | Jul 29 | Sep 12 | Oct 11 | Aug 31 |  | Jun 4 | Aug 17
Vancouver | Apr 13 | Jul 13 | Jun 15 | May 17 | Apr 26 | Jul 25 |  | Apr 6
May 30 | Oct 18 | Aug 22 | Sep 28 | Aug 10 | Sep 5 |  | Sep 21
York United | Jun 22 | May 2 | Apr 27 | Apr 13 | Aug 24 | Jul 13 | May 25 |
Sep 14 | Sep 5 | Aug 9 | Jun 1 | Oct 9 | Sep 28 | Jul 19 |

Updated to match(es) played on April 5, 2025. Source: CanPL.ca
Legend: Blue = home team win; Yellow = draw; Red = away team win.

## Playoffs

[edit]

The 2025 season will use the same Page playoff system as the past two seasons. The team who finishes first in the regular season table will play the team who finishes second, with the winner hosting the final. The fourth- and fifth-placed teams will play in a play-in round, and the winner will then play the third-placed team in a quarterfinal. The quarterfinal winner will then play the loser of the game between the first- and second-placed teams for the other spot in the final.[10]

In playoffs, if the scores are equal at the end of normal time, extra time will be played for two periods of 15 minutes each. If still tied, the winner will be decided by a penalty shoot-out.[10]

The winner of the final will qualify for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup.

### Bracket

[edit]

| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Play-in round| | | First semifinal| | | Second semifinal| | | Final
| | October 25 or 26| | November 8 or 9
| 1| | | | | |
| | | |
| | 2| | | | | November 1 or 2| | | | |
| |
| | | | | |
| | | |
| | Quarterfinal| | | | | | |
| | | |
| | October 25 or 26|
| October 22| 3| |
| |
| 4|  | | | | | | | |
| | | |
| 5|  | | | |
| | | | | |

## Attendance

[edit]

As of April 5, 2025
Pos  | Team  | Total | High | Low | Average | Change

|
|
|
|
|
|

1  | Forge FC | 7,963  | 7,963  | 7,963  | 7,963 | +50.8%†
2  | Atlético Ottawa | 5,286  | 5,286  | 5,286  | 5,286 | −3.6%†
3  | HFX Wanderers |  |  |  |  | NA†
4  | Cavalry FC |  |  |  |  | NA†
5  | Vancouver FC |  |  |  |  | NA†
6  | Valour FC |  |  |  |  | NA†
7  | Pacific FC |  |  |  |  | NA†
8  | York United |  |  |  |  | NA†
| League total  | 13,249  | 7,963  | 5,286  | 6,625 | +66.4%†

Source: CanPL, LeonardFC

## Player transfers

[edit]

According to FIFA, the Canadian Soccer Association's (CSA's) 2025 transfer windows for men's professional teams are open from January 31 to April 23 and from July 24 to August 21.[11]

### CPL–U Sports Draft

[edit]

The 2025 CPL–U Sports Draft took place on December 5, 2024.[12]

### Foreign players

[edit]

Main article: List of foreign CPL players

Canadian Premier League teams can sign a maximum of seven international players, out of which only five can be in the starting line-up for each match.[3]

The following international players were signed for the 2025 season. To be considered domestic for CPL purposes, players must be Canadian citizens, permanent residents, refugees, or (new for 2025) foreign players with at least three seasons spent in the league. Note that these players may still represent other countries in international competitions.[13][14]

Club  | Player 1  | Player 2  | Player 3  | Player 4  | Player 5  | Player 6  | Player 7  | Inactive players[A] | Former players

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Atlético Ottawa |  Alberto Zapater |  Juan Castro |  David Rodríguez |  Monty Patterson |  Iker Moreno |  Kevin Ortega |  |  |
Cavalry |  Jesse Daley |  Nicolas Wähling |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Forge |  Béni Badibanga |  Nana Opoku Ampomah |  Rezart Rama |  Marko Jevremović |  |  |  |  |
HFX Wanderers |  Lorenzo Callegari |  Vitor Dias |  Giorgio Probo |  Yohan Baï |  Jason Bahamboula |  |  |  |
Pacific |  Juan Quintana |  Aly Ndom |  Daniel de Pauli |  Lukas Browning Lagerfeldt |  Pedro Machado |  Emanuel Montejano |  |  |
Valour |  Kian Williams |  Diogo Ressurreição |  Xavier Venâncio |  Bruno Figueiredo |  |  |  |  |
Vancouver |  José Navarro |  Allan Enyou |  |  |  |  |  |  |
York United |  Oswaldo León |  Orlando Botello |  Diego Urtiaga |  |  |  |  |  |

Players in italic denote players who were new to their respective clubs for the 2025 season, sorted chronologically by their announcement. Players in bold indicate players who have represented their national teams at the senior level.

Notes

1. ^ Players who remain under contract but have suffered season-ending injury and may not return to play. They do not count towards roster or cap restrictions and as such can be replaced by another foreign player.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Hall, Vicki (November 9, 2024). "Calgary's Cavalry FC dethrones Hamilton's Forge FC for 1st-ever Canadian Premier League title". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on November 11, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
2. ^ a b "Canadian Premier League announces updates to roster rules & regulations, competitions guidelines ahead of 2025 season". Canadian Premier League. April 1, 2025. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
3. ^ a b Jacques, John (March 13, 2024). "Canadian Premier League Updates Roster Rules For 2024". Northern Tribune. Retrieved March 13, 2024.
4. ^ Gangué-Ruzic, Alexandre (November 8, 2024). "'There's not a better time to be invested in the CPL': Commissioner Mark Noonan hints at expansion plans". OneSoccer. Archived from the original on November 12, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
5. ^ Davidson, Neil (November 10, 2024). "CPL coach of the year finalist Benjamin Mora parts ways with York United FC". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. Archived from the original on November 12, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
6. ^ Charlie O'Connor-Clarke (November 21, 2024). "Mauro Eustáquio named York United FC head coach; first former CPL player to earn top coaching job". Canadian Premier League. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
7. ^ "Atlético Ottawa announces departure of Head Coach Carlos González". Atlético Ottawa. November 21, 2024. Retrieved November 21, 2024.
8. ^ "Atlético Ottawa's new head coach is Mexico's Diego Mejía". CBC News. January 15, 2025. Retrieved January 15, 2025.
9. ^ "Canadian Premier League announces 2025 regular season schedule presented by WestJet". Canadian Premier League. February 18, 2025.
10. ^ a b c "2025 CPL Competition Guidelines". Canadian Premier League. April 1, 2025. Archived from the original on April 2, 2025. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
11. ^ "Transfer system". Inside FIFA. FIFA. January 15, 2025. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
12. ^ "Canadian Premier League Announces 2025 CPL-U Sports Draft Presented By Degree" (Press release). U Sports. October 18, 2024. Archived from the original on November 12, 2024. Retrieved November 12, 2024.
13. ^ "CPL Off-Season Roster Tracker: Who's in and who's out for 2025?". Canadian Premier League. December 9, 2024. Retrieved January 16, 2025.
14. ^ "2025 CPL Competition Guidelines". Canadian Premier League. April 1, 2025. Retrieved April 1, 2025.

* v
* t
* e

« 2024

2025 Canadian Premier League season by team

* Atlético Ottawa
* Cavalry
* Forge
* HFX Wanderers
* Pacific
* Valour
* Vancouver
* York United

* 2025 U Sports Draft
* 2025 transfers
* 2025 Final

* v
* t
* e

2025 in Canadian soccer

« 2024

2026 »

| Men's leagues|

* CPL
* MLS
* L1C
* L1AB
* L1BC
* L1O
* L1Q
* MLS Next Pro
* CSL

|

Women's leagues|

* NSL
* UWS
* L1C
* L1AB
* L1BC
* L1O
* L1Q

Cups|

* Canadian Championship

Other|

* CPL transfers
* CPL–U Sports Draft
* MLS transfers
* MLS All-Star Game
* U Sports Men's Championship
* U Sports Women's Championship

International

Club competitions|

| Men|

* CONCACAF Champions Cup
* Leagues Cup

|

Women|

* CONCACAF W Champions Cup

National teams|

| Men|

* CONCACAF Nations League
* CONCACAF Gold Cup
* Canadian Shield

|

Women|

* CONCACAF Women's U-17 Championship
* Qualification

Team seasons

Club seasons|

| CPL|

* Atlético Ottawa
* Cavalry FC
* Forge FC
* HFX Wanderers
* Pacific FC
* Valour FC
* Vancouver FC
* York United FC

|

MLS|

* CF Montréal
* Toronto FC
* Vancouver Whitecaps FC

MLS Next Pro|

* Toronto FC II
* Whitecaps FC 2

NSL|

* Calgary Wild FC
* Halifax Tides FC
* Montreal Roses FC
* Ottawa Rapid FC
* AFC Toronto
* Vancouver Rise FC

* v
* t
* e

Canadian Premier League

* Canadian Soccer Association
* Stadiums
* U Sports Draft
* Playoffs
* Finals
* Foreign players
* Records

Seasons|

* 2019
* Inaugural match
* Finals
* 2020
* Final
* 2021
* Final
* 2022
* Final
* 2023
* Final
* 2024
* Final
* 2025

Clubs|

| 2024|

Atlético Ottawa
Cavalry FC
Forge FC
HFX Wanderers FC
Pacific FC
Valour FC
Vancouver FC
York United FC

|

Former|

FC Edmonton

Awards|

Team
CPL Shield
North Star Cup
Individual
CPL Awards

Golden Boot
Player of the Year
Coach of the Year

Rivalries|

905 Derby (Forge–York United)
Cavalry–Forge
Pacific–Vancouver
Former
Cavalry–Edmonton

Key personnel|

Commissioner
Mark Noonan
VP, soccer operations
James Easton

Associated competitions|

* Canadian Championship
* CONCACAF Champions Cup
* results
* League1 Canada
* Alberta
* British Columbia
* Ontario
* Quebec

* Category
* Soccer portal
* Multimedia

* v
* t
* e

2024–25 in North and Central America and Caribbean association football (CONCACAF)

« 2023–24

2025–26 »

Domestic leagues|

* Anguilla '24 '25
* Antigua and Barbuda
* Aruba
* Bahamas
* Barbados '24 '25
* Belize
* Bermuda
* Bonaire
* British Virgin Islands
* Canada '24 '25
* Cayman Islands
* Costa Rica
* Cuba
* Curaçao
* Dominica  '24 '25
* Dominican Republic '24 '25
* El Salvador
* French Guiana
* Greenland '24 '25
* Grenada '24 '25
* Guadeloupe
* Guatemala
* Guyana
* Haiti
* Honduras
* Jamaica
* Martinique
* Mexico
* Montserrat
* Nicaragua
* Panama '24 '25
* Puerto Rico
* Saint-Barthelemy '24 '25
* Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Saint Lucia '24 '25
* Saint-Martin
* Saint Pierre and Miquelon '24 '25
* Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
* Sint Maarten
* Suriname
* Trinidad and Tobago '24 '25
* Turks and Caicos Islands
* United States '24 '25
* U.S. Virgin Islands

Domestic cups|

* Anguilla '24 '25
* Aruba
* Barbados '24 '25
* Bermuda
* British Virgin Islands
* Canada '24 '25
* Cayman Islands
* Costa Rica
* El Salvador
* French Guiana
* Guadeloupe '24 '25
* Guatemala
* Honduras '24
* Martinique '24 '25
* Nicaragua
* Panama
* Puerto Rico '24 '25
* Saint Kitts and Nevis
* Saint Lucia '24 '25
* Suriname
* Trinidad and Tobago
* United States '24 '25

League cups|

* Canada–Mexico–United States
* group stage
* knockout stage
* Final

Super cups|

* Campeones

CONCACAF competitions|

National
Nations League

Finals
Final
Gold Cup

qualification

Club
Caribbean Cup
Caribbean Shield
Central American Cup
Champions Cup

Final

International competitions|

Club
FIFA Intercontinental Cup

* v
* t
* e

Canadian Soccer – Division 1 seasons (CSA & USSF)

Canadian Professional Soccer League|

* 1983

Canadian Soccer League|

* 1987
* 1988
* 1989
* 1990
* 1991
* 1992

Canadian Premier League|

* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

USSF (U.S. based leagues)|

| United Soccer Association|

* 1967

|

North American Soccer League|

* 1968
* 1971
* 1972
* 1973
* 1974
* 1975
* 1976
* 1977
* 1978
* 1979
* 1980
* 1981
* 1982
* 1983
* 1984

Major League Soccer|

* 2007
* 2008
* 2009
* 2010
* 2011
* 2012
* 2013
* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Note: there is no clear information from CSA about tier of U.S. based leagues which have Canadian clubs. In terms of historical information, they have been deployed as tier 1 league as USSF have done.
*[Pos]: Position
*[Pld]: Played
*[W]: Won
*[D]: Drawn
*[L]: Lost
*[GF]: Goals for
*[GA]: Goals against
*[GD]: Goal difference
*[Pts]: Points
*[Total]: Total season attendance
*[High]: Highest season attendance
*[Low]: Lowest season attendance
*[Average]: Average season attendance
*[Change]: Change in average attendance in comparison with the previous season
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template