The Canadian Premier League playoffs (French: les éliminatoires de la Première Ligue canadienne) is the postseason phase of the Canadian Premier League to determine that year's league champion. It was first contested as a multi-round elimination tournament in the 2021 season, to replace previous methods of determining the participants of the Canadian Premier League Finals, which used an Apertura and Clausura format in 2019, and an additional group stage in 2020. The winner of the playoffs is awarded the North Star Cup trophy, and receives the second Canadian berth into the next season's CONCACAF Champions Cup.
| Organiser(s) | Canadian Premier League |
|---|---|
| Founded |
|
| Teams | 5 |
| Current champions | Atlético Ottawa (1st title) |
| Most championships | Forge FC (4 titles) |
| Website | Official website |
 2025 CPL playoffs | |
Format
editSummary
edit| Season | League teams | Playoff teams | % of teams | Rounds | Matches | Format |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019[1] | 7 | 2 | 28.6% | 1 | 2 | Final played as a two legged series. |
| 2020[2] | 8 | 2[a] | 25% | 1 | Final played as single match. | |
| 2021[3] | 4 | 50% | 2 | 3 | Single match for all rounds. | |
| 2022[4] | 5 | Two legged semi-finals, final played as single match. | ||||
| 2023– 2025 |
5 | 62.5% | 4 | Page playoff system, all matches single legged.[5] | ||
| 2026– present |
4 | 50% | 2 | Two legged semi-finals, final played as single match. |
2019
editThe 2019 finals were contested between the winners of the spring and fall seasons.[6] The championship was contested as a two-legged tie, with each team hosting one leg at home. The winner was determined by aggregate score but if the aggregate score was tied, the team with the most away goals wins the series. A penalty shoot-out was the final tiebreaker.
2020
editThe 2020 season saw the end of the split season format, with the 2020 finals scheduled to be contested between the top-seeded regular season team and the winner of a playoff between the second and third-placed teams.[2] However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the season format was scrapped and replaced with a single-site tournament with a two-stage regular season. The 2020 final was contested in a single match between the two top-seeded teams from the four-team second stage.[7]
2021–2022; 2026–present
editThe 2021 season brought in a new four-team single leg knockout playoff with the two first round winners advancing to the final.[8] The higher-seeded finalist hosts the single leg final. If a match is tied at the end of normal playing time, extra time is played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and, if necessary, followed by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners.[9]
Prior to the start of the 2022 season, the league announced that playoff semi-finals would switch to a two-legged format but that the final would continue to be played as a single match hosted by the higher-seeded team.[4]
After a three year hiatus, the CPL returned to the format for the 2026 season.
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2023–2025
editFrom 2023 to 2025, the CPL playoffs utilized a Page playoff system, where five of the league's eight teams advance to the playoffs. The system was first used in the 2023 season to replace the conventional Shaughnessy playoff system used in 2021 and 2022.[5] The CPL chose to use the Page playoff system as it puts more emphasis on regular season performances.[10]
| Play-in round | First semifinal | Second semifinal | Final | |||||||||||||||
| 1 | First-place team | First semifinal winner | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Second-place team | Second semifinal winner | ||||||||||||||||
| First semifinal loser | ||||||||||||||||||
| Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal winner | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Third-place team | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Fourth-place team | Play-in round winner | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Fifth-place team | |||||||||||||||||
Results
editResults by team
editAs of the 2025 season.
| Team | App. | Series | Match statistics | Best result | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pld | W | L | Pld | W | D | L | |||
| Forge FC | 7 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 15 | 9 | 1 | 5 | Champions (4) |
| Cavalry FC | 6 | 11 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 5 | 1 | 7 | Champions (1) |
| Pacific FC | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | Champions (1) |
| Atlético Ottawa | 3 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 2 | 2 | Champions (1) |
| Inter Toronto FC | 4 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 3 | Semi-finals (1) |
| HFX Wanderers FC | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Runners-up (1) |
| Vancouver FC | 0 | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | N/A | ||||||
| FC Edmonton | 0 | Defunct team has never qualified for playoffs | N/A | ||||||
| Valour FC | 0 | ||||||||
Year-by-year
edit| § | Won CPL Shield |
| Season | Champion | Runner-up | Semi-finalist(s) | Top scorer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 Details |
Forge FC | Cavalry FC § | N/A |  Tristan Borges David Choinière | 1 |
| 2020 Details |
Forge FC | HFX Wanderers FC | N/A[a] |  Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson Maxim Tissot | 1 |
| 2021 Details |
Pacific FC | Forge FC § | Cavalry FC York United FC |
7 players tied | 1 |
| 2022 Details |
Forge FC | Atlético Ottawa § | Cavalry FC Pacific FC |
Woobens Pacius David Choinière | 2 |
| 2023 Details |
Forge FC | Cavalry FC § | Pacific FC[b] |  Ali Musse | 2 |
| 2024 Details |
Cavalry FC | Forge FC § | Atlético Ottawa[b] |  Molham Babouli  Tobias Warschewski | 2 |
| 2025 Details |
Atlético Ottawa | Cavalry FC | Forge FC §[b] | Tobias Warschewski | 3 |
Active playoff streaks
editPlayoff appearances
editUpdated through 2025 Canadian Premier League season. This list includes the five clubs that made the post-season in 2025. For the purposes of this section, the four-team group stage in 2020 is considered to be part of the post-season.
| Club | Last miss of post-season | Length of streak |
|---|---|---|
| Cavalry FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 7 seasons |
| Forge FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 7 seasons |
| Inter Toronto FC | 2022 | 3 seasons |
| Atlético Ottawa | 2023 | 2 seasons |
| HFX Wanderers FC | 2024 | 1 season |
Finals appearances
editUpdated through 2025 Canadian Premier League final. This list includes the two finalist clubs from 2025.
| Club | Last miss of finals | Length of streak |
|---|---|---|
| Cavalry FC | 2022 | 3 seasons |
| Atlético Ottawa | 2024 | 1 season |
Active playoff droughts
edit† – team is no longer playing in the Canadian Premier League.
Playoff appearances
editUpdated through 2025 Canadian Premier League season. This list does not include clubs that made the post-season in that year. For the purposes of this section, the four-team group stage in 2020 is considered to be part of the post-season.
| Club | Last appearance in post-season |
Length of drought |
|---|---|---|
| Valour FC † | never (club joined in 2019, folded after 2025) | 7 seasons |
| FC Edmonton † | never (club joined in 2019, folded after 2022) | 4 seasons |
| Vancouver FC | never (club joined in 2023) | 3 seasons |
| Pacific FC | 2024 | 1 season |
Finals appearances
editUpdated through 2025 Canadian Premier League final. This list does not include the clubs that qualified in that year.
| Club | Last appearance in finals |
Length of drought |
|---|---|---|
| Valour FC † | never (club joined in 2019, folded after 2025) | 7 seasons |
| Inter Toronto FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 7 seasons |
| FC Edmonton † | never (club joined in 2019, folded after 2022) | 4 seasons |
| HFX Wanderers FC | 2020 | 5 seasons |
| Pacific FC | 2021 | 4 seasons |
| Vancouver FC | never (club joined in 2023) | 3 seasons |
| Forge FC | 2024 | 1 season |
Championships
editUpdated through 2025 Canadian Premier League final. This list does not include the club that won the championship in that year.
| Club | Last championship | Length of drought |
|---|---|---|
| HFX Wanderers FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 7 seasons |
| Valour FC † | never (club joined in 2019, folded after 2025) | 7 seasons |
| Inter Toronto FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 7 seasons |
| FC Edmonton † | never (club joined in 2019, folded after 2022) | 4 seasons |
| Pacific FC | 2021 | 4 seasons |
| Vancouver FC | never (club joined in 2023) | 3 seasons |
| Forge FC | 2023 | 2 seasons |
| Cavalry FC | 2024 | 1 season |
Goalscorers
edit- As of November 9, 2024
| Rank | Player | Club(s) | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tristan Borges | Forge FC | 3 |
| David Choinière | Forge FC | ||
| Alessandro Hojabrpour | Pacific FC, Forge FC | ||
| Woobens Pacius | Forge FC | ||
| 5 | Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson | Forge FC | 2 |
| Molham Babouli | Forge FC, York United FC | ||
 Daan Klomp | Cavalry FC | ||
| Ali Musse | Cavalry FC | ||
| Tobias Warschewski | Cavalry FC | ||
| 10 | Béni Badibanga | Forge FC | 1 |
 Ollie Bassett | Atlético Ottawa | ||
| Kyle Bekker | Forge FC | ||
| Myer Bevan | Cavalry FC | ||
| Sergio Camargo | Cavalry FC | ||
| Terran Campbell | Pacific FC, Forge FC | ||
 Rubén del Campo | Atlético Ottawa | ||
| Shola Jimoh | York United FC | ||
 Oswaldo León | York United FC | ||
 Kekuta Manneh | Pacific FC | ||
| Joe Mason | Cavalry FC | ||
| Thomas Meilleur-Giguère | Pacific FC | ||
 Joshua Navarro | Forge FC | ||
 Malik Owolabi-Belewu | Forge FC | ||
| Michael Petrasso | York United FC | ||
| Adonijah Reid | Pacific FC | ||
| Malcolm Shaw | Atlético Ottawa | ||
| Ballou Tabla | Atlético Ottawa | ||
| Maxim Tissot | Forge FC, Atlético Ottawa | ||
| Zach Verhoven | Atlético Ottawa | ||
See also
editNotes
edit- ↑ In 2020, a final four group stage was used instead of a playoff (semi-final) round to determine the finalists. Cavalry FC and Pacific FC were eliminated in that stage.
- 1 2 3 Due to the Page playoff format, there was only one losing semi-finalist.
References
edit- ↑ "Canadian Premier League announces 2019 Championship format". Canadian Premier League. June 21, 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
- 1 2 3 Rhodes, Benedict (February 21, 2020). "Canadian Premier League releases 2020 schedule and format". Waking the Red. Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
- ↑ "CPL reveals remainder of 2021 season schedule presented by WestJet". Canadian Premier League. July 12, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
- 1 2 "2022 CPL Schedule presented by WestJet: Balanced regular season, more weekend matchups unveiled". Canadian Premier League. February 3, 2022. Retrieved January 2, 2024.
- 1 2 Jacques, John (March 15, 2023). "The Majority Of CPL Teams Will Be Included In New Playoff Format". Northern Tribune. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
- ↑ Jacques, John (June 21, 2019). "Canadian Premier League Announces Championship Format". Northern Tribune. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
- ↑ "The Island Games". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. Archived from the original on August 12, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
- ↑ O'Connor-Clarke, Charlie (June 24, 2021). "CPL reveals 2021 season format: 28-game schedule to conclude with four-team playoff for championship". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. Retrieved June 24, 2021.
- ↑ Thompson, Marty (November 17, 2021). "2021 CPL Final: Tentative dates set for championship match next weekend". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
- ↑ Kristian Jack Joins OneSoccer to Discuss New CPL Playoff Format (video). Canadian Premier League. March 16, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2024.