2023 Canadian Championship

The 2023 Canadian Championship (French: Championnat canadien 2023) was the sixteenth edition of the Canadian Championship, the premier men's domestic cup competition in Canadian soccer, and the 22nd competition staged to determine the winner of the Voyageurs Cup. It was a knockout tournament with all eleven professional men's soccer teams in Canada, from Major League Soccer and the Canadian Premier League, competing, along with the champions of the three semi-professional League1 Canada competitions. The tournament marked the first Voyageurs Cup campaign for FC Laval, TSS FC Rovers and Vancouver FC.

2023 Canadian Championship

Championnat canadien 2023 (French)
Tournament details
Country	Canada
Date	April 18 – June 7, 2023
Teams	14 (from 5 leagues)
Final positions
Champions	Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3rd title)
Runners-up	CF Montréal
Tournament statistics
Matches played	13
Goals scored	35 (2.69 per match)
Attendance	79,875 (6,144 per match)
Top goal scorer(s)	Sunusi Ibrahim (3 goals)
Awards
George Gross Memorial Trophy	Julian Gressel
Best young player	Ali Ahmed
← 2022 2024 →

This tournament was notable for the TSS FC Rovers' performance, as they made the quarter-finals in their debut appearance by upsetting Valour FC in the first round. In doing so, they became the first non-professional team in the history of the competition to advance past a fully professional opponent.

Format

The winner of the 2022 Canadian Championship, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and runner-up Toronto FC, both received byes to the quarter-finals. The remaining 12 teams began the competition from the first round in April.^[1] Qualification to the Canadian Championship for 2023 was automatic for Canadian teams within Major League Soccer and for all teams within the Canadian Premier League, Canada's tier-one national league. The 2022 champions from the three regional pro-am leagues of League1 Canada (League1 Ontario, PLSQ, and League1 British Columbia) also qualified.^[2]

The 2023 Canadian Championship determined a place in the continental 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup tournament.^[3][4] If the winner had already qualified for the Champions Cup via berths in the 2023 Major League Soccer, 2023 Leagues Cup or 2023 Canadian Premier League, the place would have gone to the runners-up in the final, and then to the "higher-ranked" semi-finalist based on league points totals,^[5] if the runners-up had also already qualified.^[4]

Matches in the 2023 tournament were each played as a single 90-minute match with additional time. If a match ended in a draw, no extra time was played, and the match went straight to a penalty shoot-out to decide the winner.^[6] Each team competing in the tournament could select up to 30 players to their tournament roster. If a player already nominated to a team's tournament roster was transferred to a competing team during the tournament, they were disqualified from further play in the tournament.^[6] For each match, teams could select up to 18 players for a match roster, while their starting lineup had to include at least three Canadian players. Both teams could make up to five substitutions and two concussion substitutions throughout the match at up to three stoppages of play, excluding half-time.^[6]

Teams

Pacific FC

Vancouver

Cavalry FC

Valour FC

Forge FC

Toronto

Atlético Ottawa

Montreal

HFX Wanderers

• Vancouver teams:
• TSS Rovers
• Vancouver FC
• Vancouver Whitecaps

• Toronto teams:
• Toronto FC
• Vaughan Azzurri
• York United

• Montreal teams:
• CF Montréal
• FC Laval

2023 Canadian Championship (Canada)

Locations of teams competing in the 2023 Canadian Championship

League	Team	Location	Entry round	App.	Previous best performance
Major League Soccer	Toronto FC	Toronto	Quarter-finals as 2022 finalist	16th	Winners (8 times; 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020)
	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	Vancouver		15th	Winners (2 times; 2015, 2022)
	CF Montréal	Montreal	Preliminary round	15th	Winners (4 times; 2013, 2014, 2019, 2021)
Canadian Premier League	Atlético Ottawa	Ottawa		3rd	Preliminary round (2 times; 2021, 2022)
	Cavalry FC	Foothills		4th	Semi-finals (2019)
	Forge FC	Hamilton		5th	Runners-up (2020)
	HFX Wanderers FC	Halifax		4th	Quarter-finals (3 times; 2019, 2021, 2022)
	Pacific FC	Langford		4th	Semi-finals (2021)
	Valour FC	Winnipeg		4th	Quarter-finals (2021)
	Vancouver FC	Langley		1st	—
	York United FC	Toronto		4th	Semi-finals (2022)
League1 Canada (division champions)	FC Laval (PLSQ)	Laval		1st	—
	TSS FC Rovers (L1BC)	Burnaby		1st	—
	Vaughan Azzurri (L1O)	Vaughan		2nd	First qualifying round (2019)

Draw

On January 17, 2023, Canada Soccer announced that the draw for the championship would be held on January 31 at 8:00 pm ET. The draw details and pots were announced on January 24.^[1] Due to the early start of the tournament, only 5 of 12 teams were able to host to host a match in the first round.^[7] Teams were assigned into pots based on geography (east or west) and hosting ability.^[7]

Prior to the commencement of the draw, one club from Pot B1 was moved into Pot A1, then one club from Pot B2 was moved to B1, and then both clubs from Pot C were moved to Pot B2, resulting in an even distribution of three teams in each of the first round pots.^[8] Atlético Ottawa and the HFX Wanderers were placed in Pot B2 prior to the draw as the eastern teams that did not commit to hosting a match in the first round. The Wanderers were eventually drawn from Pot A1 as the designated home team for their first round match against Ottawa, and Canada Soccer determined a neutral venue for the match.^[7]

Pot A1	Pot A2	Pot B1	Pot B2	Pot C	Pot D
Pacific FC TSS FC Rovers	Cavalry FC Valour FC Vancouver FC	Forge FC York United FC CF Montréal	Atlético Ottawa HFX Wanderers FC	FC Laval Vaughan Azzurri	Toronto FC Vancouver Whitecaps FC

Final positions

West (home)	West (away)	East (home)	East (away)	Byes
Pacific FC TSS FC Rovers York United FC	Cavalry FC Valour FC Vancouver FC	Forge FC CF Montréal HFX Wanderers FC†	Atlético Ottawa FC Laval Vaughan Azzurri	Toronto FC Vancouver Whitecaps FC

†: Could not host a Preliminary Round match.

Schedule

Round	Match dates
Preliminary round	April 18–20
Quarter-finals	May 9–10
Semi-finals	May 24
Final	June 7

Bracket

Preliminary round April 18–20

Quarter-finals May 9–10

Semi-finals May 24

Final June 7[9]

Langford, BC

Pacific FC (p)

1 (5)

Langford, BC

Cavalry FC

1 (3)

Pacific FC

2

Burnaby, BC

TSS FC Rovers

0

TSS FC Rovers

3

Langford, BC

Valour FC

1

Pacific FC

0

Toronto, ON (York Lions)

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

3

York United FC

1

Toronto, ON (York Lions)

Vancouver FC

0

York United FC

1

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

4

Vancouver, BC

Vancouver Whitecaps FC

2

CF Montréal

1

Toronto, ON (BMO)

Toronto FC

1

Montreal, QC

CF Montréal

2

CF Montréal

2

Montreal, QC

Vaughan Azzurri

0

CF Montréal

2

Hamilton, ON

Forge FC

0

Forge FC

3

Hamilton, ON

FC Laval

0

Forge FC (p)

1 (3)

Toronto, ON (York Lions)

Atlético Ottawa

1 (2)

HFX Wanderers FC

1

Atlético Ottawa

3

Preliminary round

Summary

Team 1	Score	Team 2
TSS FC Rovers	3–1	Valour FC
Pacific FC	1–1 (5–3 p)	Cavalry FC
York United FC	1–0	Vancouver FC
Forge FC	3–0	FC Laval
HFX Wanderers FC	1–3[a]	Atlético Ottawa
CF Montréal	2–0	Vaughan Azzurri

Matches

April 19

19:30 PT

TSS FC Rovers	3–1	Valour FC
Polisi 39', 62' Mejia 42'	Report	Novak 88' (pen.)

Swangard Stadium, Burnaby, British Columbia

Attendance: 2,486

Referee: Robert D'Alesio

---

April 20

19:00 PT

Pacific FC	1–1	Cavalry FC
Ongaro 39'	Report	Bevan 28'
Penalties
Heard Sellouf Đidić Young Mukumbilwa	5–3	Aird Cantave Alarcón Klomp

Starlight Stadium, Langford, British Columbia

Attendance: 2,099

Referee: David Barrie

---

April 19

20:00 ET

York United FC	1–0	Vancouver FC
Babouli 6' (pen.)	Report

York Lions Stadium, Toronto, Ontario

Attendance: 950

Referee: Michael Venne

---

April 18

19:00 ET

Forge FC	3–0	FC Laval
Jensen 37', 55' Pacius 57' (pen.)	Report

Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton, Ontario

Attendance: 2,117

Referee: Scott Bowman

---

April 19

17:00 ET

HFX Wanderers FC	1–3	Atlético Ottawa
Ferrin 19'	Report	Shaw 40' Espejo 44' Tissot 85'

York Lions Stadium, Toronto, Ontario^[a]

Attendance: 674

Referee: Myriam Marcotte

---

April 18

19:00 ET

CF Montréal	2–0	Vaughan Azzurri
Rea 31' Ibrahim 36'	Report

Saputo Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Attendance: 11,069

Referee: Mathieu Souaré

Quarter-finals

Summary

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Pacific FC	2–0	TSS FC Rovers
York United FC	1–4	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Forge FC	1–1 (3–2 p)[b]	Atlético Ottawa
Toronto FC	1–2	CF Montréal

Matches

May 10

19:30 PT

Pacific FC	2–0	TSS FC Rovers
Heard 66' (pen.) Reid 87'	Report

Starlight Stadium, Langford, British Columbia

Attendance: 2,593

Referee: Myriam Marcotte

---

May 10

19:30 ET

York United FC	1–4	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Ricci 90'	Report	Adekugbe 64' (o.g.) Becher 76' Johnson 88' Gressel 90+1' (pen.)

York Lions Stadium, Toronto, Ontario

Attendance: 1,827

Referee: Drew Fischer

---

May 9

19:00 ET

Forge FC	1–1	Atlético Ottawa
Bekker 76'	Report	Bassett 87' (pen.)
Penalties
Borges Jensen Pacius Achinioti-Jönsson Hamilton Sissoko	3–2	Shaw Bassett Salter dos Santos Singh Verhoven

Tim Hortons Field, Hamilton, Ontario^[b]

Attendance: 2,979

Referee: Filip Dujic

---

May 9

19:00 ET

Canadian Classique

Toronto FC	1–2	CF Montréal
Insigne 44'	Report	Brault-Guillard 35' Offor 39'

BMO Field, Toronto, Ontario

Attendance: 17,726

Referee: Yusri Rudolf

Semi-finals

Summary

Team 1	Score	Team 2
Pacific FC	0–3	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
CF Montréal	2–0	Forge FC

Matches

May 24

19:00 PT

Pacific FC	0–3	Vancouver Whitecaps FC
	Report	Gressel 14' Ahmed 17' Becher 78'

Starlight Stadium, Langford, British Columbia

Attendance: 5,221

Referee: Drew Fischer

---

May 24

19:00 ET

CF Montréal	2–0	Forge FC
Lassiter 54' Ibrahim 78'	Report

Saputo Stadium, Montreal, Quebec

Attendance: 10,062

Referee: Pierre-Luc Lauzière

Final

Main article: 2023 Canadian Championship final

June 7

19:00 PT

Vancouver Whitecaps FC	2–1	CF Montréal
White 57' Gauld 65' (pen.)	Report	Ibrahim 83'

BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia

Attendance: 20,072

Referee: Filip Dujic

Top goalscorers

  Team eliminated or did not play in this round.

Rank	Player	Team	Goals	By round
				PR	QF	SF	F
1	Sunusi Ibrahim	CF Montréal	3	1		1	1
2	Simon Becher	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	2		1	1
	Julian Gressel	Vancouver Whitecaps FC			1	1
	Noah Jensen	Forge FC		2
	Matteo Polisi	TSS FC Rovers		2
6	Ali Ahmed	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	1			1
	Molham Babouli	York United FC		1
	Ollie Bassett	Atlético Ottawa			1
	Kyle Bekker	Forge FC			1
	Myer Bevan	Cavalry FC		1
	Zachary Brault-Guillard	CF Montréal			1
	Diego Espejo	Atlético Ottawa		1
	Massimo Ferrin	HFX Wanderers FC		1
	Ryan Gauld	Vancouver Whitecaps FC					1
	Josh Heard	Pacific FC			1
	Lorenzo Insigne	Toronto FC			1
	Levonte Johnson	Vancouver Whitecaps FC			1
	Ariel Lassiter	CF Montréal				1
	Ivan Mejia	TSS FC Rovers		1
	Anthony Novak	Valour FC		1
	Chinonso Offor	CF Montréal			1
	Easton Ongaro	Pacific FC		1
	Woobens Pacius	Forge FC		1
	Sean Rea	CF Montréal		1
	Adonijah Reid	Pacific FC			1
	Austin Ricci	York United FC			1
	Malcolm Shaw	Atlético Ottawa		1
	Maxim Tissot	Atlético Ottawa		1
	Brian White	Vancouver Whitecaps FC					1

Own goals

• 1 own goal - Elijah Adekugbe

Awards

• George Gross Memorial Trophy: Julian Gressel (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)^[13]
• Best Young Canadian Player Award: Ali Ahmed (Vancouver Whitecaps FC)^[13]

Broadcasting rights

Country	Broadcaster	Ref.
Canada	OneSoccer	[14][15]
United States	Fox Sports	[15][16][17]

Notes

1. This match was played at York Lions Stadium (a neutral venue) due to both clubs being unable to host the match.^[10]
2. Although Atlético Ottawa was drawn as the home team, this match was played at Tim Hortons Field due to Atlético opting out of hosting.^[11][12]