The 2019 Canadian Championship was the twelfth edition of the Canadian Championship, contested from May 15 to September 25, 2019. Montreal Impact won their fourth Canadian Championship title (their tenth Voyageurs Cup) and earned a berth in the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League.
The competition expanded to thirteen teams with the introduction of the seven Canadian Premier League (CPL) clubs, the most in the competition's history. The 2019 tournament also marked the first time that clubs from Manitoba and Nova Scotia were represented in the Canadian Championship, and the return of clubs from Alberta after none participated in 2018.
Cavalry FC's 2–1 aggregate defeat of Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the tournament's third qualifying round marked the first time in the history of the Canadian Championship that an MLS team was defeated by a non-MLS team in a home-and-away series.
Ignacio Piatti was the tournament's top scorer with four goals and won the George Gross Memorial Trophy, while Zachary Brault-Guillard received the inaugural Best Young Canadian Player award for the best Canadian player of the tournament aged 21 or younger.
Format The format of the competition was changed to include the seven CPL clubs, and consisted of three qualifying rounds before semi-finals and a final. All rounds were played in a two-legged tie format. In the first qualifying round, the League1 Ontario champion Vaughan Azzurri, Première ligue de soccer du Québec champion A.S. Blainville, and four CPL clubs entered the competition. They were joined by the remaining three CPL clubs (given byes due to previously competing or being sanctioned earlier than the other clubs) in the second qualifying round. In the third qualifying round, Ottawa Fury FC and two Major League Soccer teams entered. The previous year's champion, Toronto FC, received a bye to the semi-final.
Distribution + Distribution of teams for 2019 Canadian Championship Round Teams entering in this round Teams advancing from previous round First qualifying round(6 teams) 1 champion of League1 Ontario 1 champion of Première ligue de soccer du Québec 4 Canadian Premier League teams Second qualifying round(6 teams) 3 Canadian Premier League "inaugural teams" 3 winners from the first qualifying round Third qualifying round(6 teams) 1 USL Championship team 2 Major League Soccer teams 3 winners from the second qualifying round Semi-finals(4 teams) 1 champion of 2018 Canadian Championship 3 winners from the third qualifying round Final(2 teams) 2 winners from the semi-finals
Qualified clubs
Club Location League Previous best Prior appearances A.S. Blainville Blainville, Quebec Première ligue de soccer du Québec 1 Cavalry FC Foothills County, Alberta Canadian Premier League N/A Debut FC Edmonton Edmonton, Alberta Canadian Premier League 7 Forge FC Hamilton, Ontario Canadian Premier League N/A Debut HFX Wanderers Halifax, Nova Scotia Canadian Premier League N/A Debut Montreal Impact Montreal, Quebec Major League Soccer 11 Ottawa Fury Ottawa, Ontario USL Championship 5 Pacific FC Langford, British Columbia Canadian Premier League N/A Debut Toronto FC Toronto, Ontario Major League Soccer 11 Valour FC Winnipeg, Manitoba Canadian Premier League N/A Debut Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver, British Columbia Major League Soccer 11 Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan, Ontario League1 Ontario N/A Debut York9 FC Toronto, Ontario Canadian Premier League N/A Debut Note Statistics include previous incarnations of FC Edmonton, Montreal Impact, and Vancouver Whitecaps
Schedule RoundFirst leg dateSecond leg dateTeams enteringFirst qualifying roundMay 15May 226 (A.S. Blainville, Cavalry FC, HFX Wanderers, Pacific FC, Vaughan Azzurri, York9 FC)Second qualifying roundJune 4/5June 11/123 (FC Edmonton, Forge FC, Valour FC)Third qualifying roundJuly 10July 243 (Montreal Impact, Ottawa Fury, Vancouver Whitecaps FC)Semi-finalsAugust 7August 141 (Toronto FC)FinalSeptember 18September 25
Bracket
First qualifying round
Summary The first legs were held on May 15, and the second legs on May 22, 2019.
Notes
Matches
3–3 on aggregate. HFX Wanderers won on away goals.
Cavalry FC won 4–1 on aggregate.
York9 won 1–0 on aggregate.
Second qualifying round
Summary The first legs were held on June 4 and 5, and the second legs were held on June 11 and 12, 2019.
Notes
Matches
York9 FC won 3–2 on aggregate.
Cavalry FC won 3–2 on aggregate.
HFX Wanderers won 4–1 on aggregate.
Third qualifying round
Summary The first legs were held on July 10, and the second legs were held on July 24, 2019.
Matches
Ottawa Fury won 5–4 on aggregate.
Montreal Impact won 3–2 on aggregate.
Cavalry FC won 2–1 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
Summary The first legs were held on August 7, and the second legs were held on August 14, 2019.
Notes
Matches
Toronto FC won 5–0 on aggregate.
Montreal Impact won 3–1 on aggregate.
Final
Summary The first leg was held on September 18, and the second leg was held on September 25, 2019. The higher-seeded team in the final, Toronto FC, chose to play the first leg away.
Matches
1–1 on aggregate. Montreal Impact won 3–1 on penalties.
Goalscorers
RankPlayerTeamGoalsBy round 1 Ignacio PiattiMontreal Impact4 12 12 Mohamed KouroumaHFX Wanderers31 11 Tomasz SkublakHFX Wanderers1 1 14 Sergio CamargoCavalry FC2 1 1 Thiago De FreitasOttawa Fury2 Nick DeLeonToronto FC 2 Tsubasa EndohToronto FC1 1 Rodrigo GattasYork9 1 1 Dominique MalongaCavalry FC 11 Luis PereaHFX Wanderers 11 Ryan TelferYork9 1 1 Dominick ZatorCavalry FC1 1
References
External links CBC Sports explanation of the tournament