The 2025 Canadian Premier League season was the seventh season of the Canadian Premier League, the top men's professional level of the Canadian Soccer Association's league system.
Rule changes 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). Beginning in 2025, players who had three seasons of CPL experience or have lived in Canada for at least three years were considered domestic players for roster purposes.
Teams The same eight teams that competed in the 2024 season also competed in the 2025 season. This was the final season of play for Valour FC, who ceased operations.
Stadiums and locations
ClubResultsLocationStadiumCapacityAtlético OttawadetailsOttawa, OntarioTD Place Stadium24,000Cavalry FCdetailsFoothills County, AlbertaATCO Field6,000Forge FCdetailsHamilton, OntarioHamilton Stadium23,218HFX Wanderers FCdetailsHalifax, Nova ScotiaWanderers Grounds7,500Pacific FCdetailsLangford, British ColumbiaStarlight Stadium6,000Valour FCdetailsWinnipeg, ManitobaPrincess Auto Stadium32,343Vancouver FCdetailsLangley, British ColumbiaWilloughby Community Park6,560York United FCdetailsToronto, OntarioYork Lions Stadium4,000
Personnel and sponsorship +TeamHead coachCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsorAtlético Ottawa Diego Mejía Nathan InghamMacron Maple Lodge FarmsCavalry Tommy Wheeldon Jr. Marco CarducciWestJetForge Bobby Smyrniotis Kyle BekkerWeatherTechHFX Wanderers Patrice Gheisar Andre RampersadVolkswagenPacific James Merriman Josh HeardTelusValour Phillip Dos Santos Raphael OhinOneSoccerVancouver Martin Nash (interim) Callum IrvingCaffè ArtigianoYork United Mauro Eustáquio Elijah AdekugbeCarlsberg 0.0%
Coaching changes TeamOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming coachDate of appointmentYork United Benjamín MoraEnd of contractNovember 10, 2024Pre-season Mauro EustáquioNovember 21, 2024Atlético Ottawa Carlos GonzálezMutual consentNovember 21, 2024 Diego MejíaJanuary 15, 2025Vancouver Afshin GhotbiMutual consentJuly 23, 20258th Martin Nash (interim)July 24, 2025
Regular season Format The regular season was 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 Forge FC was awarded the CPL Shield and qualified for Round one of the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
The top five teams qualified for the playoffs.
Standings
Results
Positions by match week
Playoffs
The 2025 playoffs featured a series of single-leg matches for five teams following a modified Page playoff system; the top two regular season teams got byes to the first semifinal; the third-placed team got a bye to the quarterfinal; while the fourth- and fifth-placed teams contested a play-in match to reach the quarterfinal.
The winner of the quarterfinal and the loser of the first semifinal contested the second semifinal. The winner of the first semifinal hosted the winner of the second semifinal in the 2025 CPL Final to crown the league champion, who collected the North Star Cup, and qualified for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
In playoffs, if the scores were equal at the end of normal time, two 15 minute periods of extra time were played, with each team allowed an extra substitution. If still tied, the winner was decided by a penalty shoot-out.
If a team completed the 'Double', that is, the regular season winner also won the 2025 CPL Final, then the second-highest seeded regular season team would have qualified for the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Bracket
Play-in round
Quarterfinal
First semifinal
Second semifinal
Final
Statistical leaders
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals 1 Samuel Salter Atlético Ottawa 20 2 Tiago Coimbra HFX Wanderers 13 3 Brian Wright Forge 12 4 Julian Altobelli York United 11 Ballou Tabla Atlético Ottawa Tobias Warschewski Cavalry 7 Ali Musse Cavalry 10 8 Shaan Hundal Valour / York United 9 David Rodríguez Atlético Ottawa 10 Sergio Camargo Cavalry 8
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref. 4 Atlético Ottawa Valour 5–2 (H) May 10 Forge Valour 5–0 (A) June 22 Pacific HFX Wanderers 3–2 (H) July 12 HFX Wanderers Valour 4–1 (H) August 22 4 York United Pacific 5–1 (H) August 24 Valour Vancouver 5–2 (A) September 5 Note: 4 – player scored 4 goals
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists 1 David Rodríguez Atlético Ottawa 9 2 Ali Musse Cavalry 7 3 Themi Antonoglou Valour 6 Manny Aparicio Atlético Ottawa Thierno Bah Vancouver Sergio Camargo Cavalry 7 Max Ferrari York United 5 Hoce Massunda Forge Sean Rea Halifax Wanderers Wesley Timóteo Halifax Wanderers Tobias Warschewski Cavalry
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubClean sheets 1 Jassem Koleilat Forge 13 2 Nathan Ingham Atlético Ottawa 11 3 Rayane Yesli HFX Wanderers 8 Marco Carducci Cavalry 5 Diego Urtiaga York United 7
Attendance
Awards Canadian Premier League Awards The 2025 Canadian Premier League Awards was held in Gatineau, Quebec, on November 7, 2025. AwardRecipientFinalistsRef.Golden Boot Samuel Salter (Atlético Ottawa)N/AGolden Glove Jassem Koleilat (Forge FC) Marco Carducci (Cavalry FC) Nathan Ingham (Atlético Ottawa) Jassem Koleilat (Forge FC)Coach of the Year Bobby Smyrniotis (Forge FC) Mauro Eustáquio (York United FC) Diego Mejía (Atlético Ottawa) Bobby Smyrniotis (Forge FC)Player of the Year Samuel Salter (Atlético Ottawa)–Best Under 21 Canadian Player of the Year Tiago Coimbra (Halifax Wanderers FC) Noah Abatneh (Atlético Ottawa) Gabriel Antinoro (Atlético Ottawa) Thierno Bah (Vancouver FC) Tiago Coimbra (Halifax Wanderers FC) Hoce Massunda (Forge FC)Defender of the Year Daniel Nimick (Forge FC) Noah Abatneh (Atlético Ottawa) Daniel Nimick (Forge FC) Rezart Rama (Forge FC)Players' Player of the Year Samuel Salter (Atlético Ottawa) Julian Altobelli (York United FC) Nana Ampomah (Forge FC) Manuel Aparicio (Alético Ottawa) Kyle Bekker (Forge FC) Tiago Coimbra (Halifax Wanderers FC) Ali Musse (Cavalry FC) Daniel Nimick (Forge FC) David Rodríguez (Atlético Ottawa) Samuel Salter (Atlético Ottawa) Ballou Tabla (Atlético Ottawa)
Monthly Awards +MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthGoalkeeper of the MonthReferencesManagerClubPlayerClubGoalkeeperClubApril Patrice GheisarHalifax Wanderers FC David RodríguezAtlético Ottawa Rayane YesliHalifax Wanderers FCMay Tommy Wheeldon Jr.Cavalry FC Samuel SalterAtlético Ottawa Marco CarducciCavalry FCJune Diego MejíaAtlético Ottawa Daniel NimickForge FC Nathan InghamAtlético OttawaJuly Mauro EustáquioYork United FC Kyle BekkerForge FC Jassem KoleilatForge FCAugust Bobby SmyrniotisForge FC Ali MusseCavalry FC Nathan InghamAtlético OttawaSeptember Diego MejíaAtlético Ottawa Ballou TablaAtlético Ottawa Nathan InghamAtlético OttawaOctober Tommy Wheeldon Jr.Cavalry FC Manuel AparicioAtlético Ottawa Callum IrvingVancouver FC
Team of the Week The Gatorade Team of the Week were selected by the CPL's Kristian Jack and OneSoccer's Oliver Platt. Team of the WeekWeekGoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwardsRef1 23456789101112131415 Bitar (York)|16171819202122232425262728
Player transfers There were two transfer windows, the first open from January31 to April23 and the second from July24 to August21.
CPL–U Sports Draft The 2025 CPL–U Sports Draft took place on December5, 2024.
Foreign 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.
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.
+Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Player 7 Inactive players Former playersAtlético Ottawa Alberto Zapater Juan Castro David Rodríguez Monty Patterson Kevin Ortega Antonio Álvarez Roni Mbomio Iker MorenoCavalry Nicolas Wähling Levi Laing Ayman Sellouf Jesse DaleyForge Béni Badibanga Nana Opoku Ampomah Rezart Rama Marko Jevremović Christos Liatifis Victor KlonaridisHFX Wanderers Lorenzo Callegari Vitor Dias Yohan Baï Jason Bahamboula Giorgio ProboPacific Aly Ndom Daniel de Pauli Lukas Browning Lagerfeldt Emanuel Montejano Juan Quintana Pedro MachadoValour Kian Williams Diogo Ressurreição Xavier Venâncio Bruno Figueiredo Diego Konincks Oskar van HattumVancouver José Navarro Allan Enyou Juan Batista Michel Cavalcante Abdoulaye Ouattara Pathé Ndiaye Nicolás MezquidaYork United Oswaldo León Orlando Botello Diego Urtiaga Leonel López Bryan Rosa
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
References