The 2024 Canadian Championship () was the seventeenth edition of the Canadian Championship, the premier men's domestic cup competition in Canadian soccer, and the 23rd competition staged to determine the winner of the Voyageurs Cup. It featured all eleven professional men's soccer teams in Canada, from Major League Soccer and the Canadian Premier League, along with the champions of the three semi-professional League1 Canada competitions. This tournament marked the first Voyageurs Cup campaign for CS Saint-Laurent and Simcoe County Rovers FC. Victoria Highlanders FC had also qualified as the League1 British Columbia regular season winners but withdrew before the start of the tournament; they were replaced by TSS Rovers FC.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC earned their third consecutive title after defeating Toronto FC on penalties following a scoreless draw in the final, held at BC Place in Vancouver. As winners, they qualified for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Format Canada Soccer announced the competition format on February 22. The tournament consisted of four rounds with the quarter-finals and semi-finals being two legs, and the preliminary round and the finals being single legs. The winner of the 2023 Canadian Championship, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and runner-up, CF Montréal, both received byes to the quarter-finals. The remaining twelve teams began the competition in the preliminary round starting in April. Hosting privileges up to the semi-finals were determined based on a three-year Canadian Championship ranking index.
An earlier report suggested that Canada Soccer was reviewing a Canadian Premier League format proposal that would include a May start date, byes for Vancouver Whitecaps FC (2023 Canadian Championship winners) and Forge FC (2023 Canadian Premier League champions), and replace the draw with set regional matchups.
Teams
LeagueTeamLocationEntry roundPrevious best (last) 1Major League Soccer Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver, BCQuarter-finals 16th Winners (2023) 2 CF Montréal Montreal, Quebec 16th Winners (2021) 3 Toronto FC Toronto, OntarioPreliminary round 17th Winners (2020) 4Canadian Premier League Pacific FC Langford, BC 5th Semi-finals (2023) 5 Forge FC Hamilton, Ontario 6th Runners-up (2020) 6 York United FC Toronto, Ontario 5th Semi-finals (2022) 7 Cavalry FC Foothills County, Alberta 5th Semi-finals (2019) 8 HFX Wanderers FC Halifax, Nova Scotia 5th Quarter-finals (2022) 9 Atlético Ottawa Ottawa, Ontario 4th Quarter-finals (2023) 10 Valour FC Winnipeg, Manitoba 5th Quarter-finals (2021) 11 Vancouver FC Langley, BC 2nd Preliminary round (2023) 12League1 Canada(division champions) TSS Rovers FC Burnaby, BC 2nd Quarter-finals (2023) 13 CS Saint-Laurent Montreal, Quebec 1st — 14 Simcoe County Rovers FC Barrie, Ontario 1st —
Notes
Ranking Index Ahead of this edition of the competition, Canada Soccer created the Canadian Championship Club Ranking Index. The index used a weighted ranking of the past three years' competitive results in the Canadian Championship. Each professional team received its own ranking while League1 Canada's component leagues each received a league ranking that was used by their representative team. In the preliminary round, the team with the highest ranking hosted the single knockout game; in the quarter and semi-final rounds, the team with the highest ranking hosted the second game of the two-legged tie.
Draw Canada Soccer conducted two draws to determine the matchups of the tournament: one draw to determine the preliminary round and quarter-final matchups, and another to determine the semi-final and final rounds.
First draw The first draw was held on February 23, 2024 and was conducted behind closed doors. Canada Soccer placed each participating team in the following pots. Prior to the main draw, one team from the east pot was randomly drawn to play in the west bracket. They were automatically scheduled to host Valour FC in the preliminary round due to geographical considerations.
West West (non-hosting) East East (semi-pro) Bye
Notes
Second draw The second draw was held on May 29 during halftime of the Pacific FC vs Atlético Ottawa quarter-final second-leg match. It determined the matchups for the semi-finals and hosting rights for the single-leg final.
Schedule The preliminary round schedule was announced on March 11; the quarter-final schedule was announced on May 3; and the semi-final schedule was announced on June 10.
Round Draw date First leg Second leg Preliminary round February 23 April 23 – May 2 Quarter-finals May 7–8 May 21–29 Semi-finals May 29 July 10 August 27 Final September 25
Bracket
Preliminary round Summary
Matches
Quarter-finals Summary
Matches
2–2 on aggregate. Vancouver Whitecaps FC won on away goals.
Pacific FC won 2–1 on aggregate.
Forge FC won 3–2 on aggregate.
Toronto FC won 11–1 on aggregate.
Semi-finals Summary
Matches
Vancouver Whitecaps FC won 2–0 on aggregate.
2–2 on aggregate. Toronto FC won on away goals.
Final
Top goalscorers
RankPlayerTeamGoalsBy round 1 Deandre KerrToronto FC5142 Prince OwusuToronto FC31113 Ollie BassettAtlético Ottawa22 David ChoinièreForge FC11 Rubén del CampoAtlético Ottawa2 Ryan GauldVancouver Whitecaps FC11 Jordan HamiltonForge FC2 Levonte JohnsonVancouver Whitecaps FC2 Cassius MailulaToronto FC11 Kwasi PokuForge FC11 Alberto ZapaterAtlético Ottawa2
Sending offs No.DatePlayerClubOffence1 April 23 Shamit Shome Cavalry FC Serious foul play May 21 Oussema Boughanmi CS Saint-Laurent Serious foul play
Broadcasting rights OneSoccer, a Canadian video streaming service owned by Mediapro, had been the Canadian Championship's broadcaster in recent editions of the tournament. This status was put into doubt on January 25, 2024 when Canadian Soccer Business launched legal action against Mediapro, taking back the broadcast rights of several properties including the Canadian Championship. However, on April 2, OneSoccer began promoting a "2024 Season Pass" that included "exclusive access" to the Canadian Championship, suggesting a breakthrough had been reached. The following day, Canadian Soccer Business issued a statement saying that they and Mediapro were "on a positive path toward resolving our differences and expect to come to a finalized agreement in the near future".
CountryBroadcasterRef.OneSoccer
References
Further reading
External links Canadian Championship at Canada Soccer