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Canadian Premier League playoffs

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Canadian Premier League playoffs
Organising bodyCanadian Premier League
Founded
    • 2019 (finals only)
    • 2021 (multiple rounds)
Number of teams5
Current championsForge FC
(4th title)
Most successful club(s)Forge FC
(4 titles)
2024 CPL playoffs

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.

Format

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Current format

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The current format of the CPL playoffs utilizes a page playoff system, where five of the league's eight teams have an opportunity to claim the league championship. The system was brought in for the 2023 Canadian Premier League season to replace the conventional Shaughnessy playoff system used in 2021 and 2022.[1] The Canadian Soccer Association chose to use the page playoff system as it puts more emphasis on regular season performances. Because a primary goal of the CPL is to develop Canadian soccer players and eventually have them play in more competitive leagues in places such as Europe, where a majority of league titles are determined by regular season standings, the CSA wanted the CPL format to partially reflect that.[2]

Play-in roundFirst semifinalSecond semifinalFinal
1First-place teamFirst semifinal winner
2Second-place teamSecond semifinal winner
First semifinal loser
QuarterfinalQuarterfinal winner
3Third-place team
4Fourth-place teamPlay-in round winner
5Fifth-place team

Past formats

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Summary

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Season League teams Playoff teams % of teams Rounds Matches Format
2019[3] 7 2 28.6% 1 2 Final played as a two legged series.
2020[4] 8 25% 1 Final played as single match.
2021[5] 4 50% 2 3 Single match for all rounds.
2022[6] 5 Two legged semi-finals, final played as single match.
2023[7] 5 62.5% 4 Page playoff system, all matches single legged.
2023

2019

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The 2019 finals were contested between the winners of the spring and fall seasons.[8] 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.

CPL Spring Champion
CPL Fall Champion

2020

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The 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.[9] 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.[10]

Group stage winner
Group stage runner-up

2021–2022

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The 2021 season brought in a new four-team single leg knockout playoff with the two first round winners advancing to the final.[11] The higher-seeded finalist hosts the single leg game. 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.[12]

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.[13]

Results

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Results by team

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Appearances as of the 2024 season, match results as of 2023 season

Team App. Finals Series Match statistics Best result
Pld W L Pld W L Pld W D L
Forge FC 6 5 4 1 8 7 1 10 8 1 1 Champions
Pacific FC 4 1 1 0 5 3 2 6 3 1 2
Cavalry FC 5 2 0 2 6 1 5 8 1 1 6 Runners-up
Atlético Ottawa 2 1 0 1 2 1 1 3 1 1 1
HFX Wanderers FC 2 1 0 1 2 0 2 2 0 0 2
York United FC 3 0 0 0 2 0 2 2 0 0 2 Semi-finalists
Valour FC 0 Active team has never qualified for playoffs N/A
Vancouver FC 0
FC Edmonton 0 Defunct team has never qualified for playoffs N/A

Year-by-year

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Legend
§ Won CPL Shield
Season Champion Runner-up Semi-finalist(s) Top scorer
2019
Details 		Forge FC Cavalry FC § N/A Canada Tristan Borges
Canada David Choinière		 1
2020
Details 		Forge FC HFX Wanderers FC N/A[a] Sweden Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson
Canada 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 		Canada Woobens Pacius
Canada David Choinière		 2
2023
Details 		Forge FC Cavalry FC § Pacific FC[b] Somalia Ali Musse 2

Statistics

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Active streaks

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Playoff appearances

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Updated through 2024 Canadian Premier League season. This list includes the five clubs that made the post-season in 2024. 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) 6 seasons
Forge FC never (club joined in 2019) 6 seasons
Pacific FC 2019 5 seasons
York United FC 2022 2 season
Atlético Ottawa 2023 1 season

Finals appearances

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Updated through 2023 Canadian Premier League final. This list includes the two finalist clubs from 2023.

Club Last miss of finals Length of streak
Forge FC never (club joined in 2019) 5 seasons
Cavalry FC 2022 1 season

Active droughts

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† – team is no longer playing in the Canadian Premier League.

Playoff appearances

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Updated through 2024 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) 6 seasons
FC Edmonton † never (club joined in 2019, folded after 2022) 4 seasons
Vancouver FC never (club joined in 2023) 2 season
HFX Wanderers FC 2023 1 season

Finals appearances

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Updated through 2023 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) 5 seasons
York United FC never (club joined in 2019) 5 seasons
FC Edmonton † never (club joined in 2019, folded after 2022) 4 seasons
HFX Wanderers FC 2020 3 seasons
Pacific FC 2021 2 seasons
Atlético Ottawa 2022 1 season
Vancouver FC never (club joined in 2023) 1 season

Championships

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Updated through 2023 Canadian Premier League final. This list does not include the club that won the championship in that year.

Club Last championship Length of drought
Cavalry FC never (club joined in 2019) 5 seasons
HFX Wanderers FC never (club joined in 2019) 5 seasons
Valour FC never (club joined in 2019) 5 seasons
York United FC never (club joined in 2019) 5 seasons
Atlético Ottawa never (club joined in 2020) 4 seasons
FC Edmonton † never (club joined in 2019, folded after 2022) 4 seasons
Pacific FC 2021 2 seasons
Vancouver FC never (club joined in 2023) 1 season

Goalscorers

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As of October 28, 2023
Rank Player Club(s) Goals
1 Canada Tristan Borges Forge FC 3
Canada David Choinière Forge FC
Canada Alessandro Hojabrpour Pacific FC, Forge FC
Canada Woobens Pacius Forge FC
2 Netherlands Daan Klomp Cavalry FC 2
Somalia Ali Musse Cavalry FC
3 Sweden Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson Forge FC 1
Canada Béni Badibanga Forge FC
Canada Kyle Bekker Forge FC
Canada Myer Bevan Cavalry FC
Canada Terran Campbell Pacific FC, Forge FC
The Gambia Kekuta Manneh Pacific FC
Canada Joe Mason Cavalry FC
Canada Thomas Meilleur-Giguère Pacific FC
Costa Rica Joshua Navarro Forge FC
Canada Michael Petrasso York United FC
Canada Adonijah Reid Pacific FC
Canada Malcolm Atlético Ottawa
Canada Ballou Tabla Atlético Ottawa
Canada Maxim Tissot Forge FC, Atlético Ottawa
Canada Zach Verhoven Atlético Ottawa

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ Due to the page playoff format, there was only one losing semi-finalist.

References

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  1. ^ Jacques, John (March 15, 2023). "The Majority Of CPL Teams Will Be Included In New Playoff Format". Northern Tribune. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  2. ^ Kristian Jack Joins OneSoccer to Discuss New CPL Playoff Format (video). Canadian Premier League. March 16, 2023. Retrieved February 7, 2024.
  3. ^ "Canadian Premier League announces 2019 Championship format". Canadian Premier League. 21 June 2019. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  4. ^ Rhodes, Benedict (21 February 2020). "Canadian Premier League releases 2020 schedule and format". Waking the Red. Archived from the original on 2020-02-26. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  5. ^ "CPL reveals remainder of 2021 season schedule presented by WestJet". Canadian Premier League. 12 July 2021. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  6. ^ "2022 CPL Schedule presented by WestJet: Balanced regular season, more weekend matchups unveiled". Canadian Premier League. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 2 January 2024.
  7. ^ Jacques, John (15 March 2023). "The Majority Of CPL Teams Will Be Included In New Playoff Format". Northern Tribune. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  8. ^ Jacques, John (June 21, 2019). "Canadian Premier League Announces Championship Format". Northern Tribune. Retrieved February 26, 2020.
  9. ^ 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 February 26, 2020.
  10. ^ "The Island Games". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
  11. ^ 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.
  12. ^ 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.
  13. ^ "2022 CPL Schedule presented by WestJet: Balanced regular season, more weekend matchups unveiled". canpl.ca. Canadian Premier League. February 3, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2022.
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