While "football matches" were played before at various locations (Toronto 1859,
New Westminster 1862 and Victoria 1865), the first game played under
"London Association Rules" (referring to the FA established in London in 1863)
took place in 1876, when teams from the Toronto Lacrosse Club and
the Carlton Cricket Club met on Parliament Street in Toronto.
See also
"Ontario: The Early Years"
at the Canadian Soccer History site for further information.
A first association, the Dominion Football Association, was formed in Toronto
in 1877 and may be considered the first national football association outside
of the British Isles, as its name indicated its intention to govern the game
in the entire Dominion of Canada, but its membership appears to have been
restricted to the Toronto area and it disappeared after some three years.
Instead, in 1880 the Western Football Association (WFA) was formed in Berlin
(now called Kitchener) in Ontario. Its activity concentrated on western and
southern Ontario but it played an important role in the development of
the game, not in the least by
its regular interaction with the
American Football Association, based in Newark, New Jersey, and a
tour to Britain in 1888.
One of its member clubs, Galt FC, represented Canada at the (unofficial)
football tournament at
the 1904 Olympics in Saint Louis,
easily trouncing both US American opponents.
Meanwhile, other state football federations had been formed (e.g. in Manitoba in 1896,
a second association in Ontario (the Ontario FA, currently the Ontario SA, in 1901),
and in Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1906) and a first, unofficial, national
competition, that for the
People's Shield,
was inaugurated in 1906.
Following the formation of further state associations in British Columbia (1910)
and Quebec (1911), the Dominion of Canada Football Association (DCFA) was founded
in 1912 and affiliated to FIFA in 1913; in the same year, the
competition for the
Connaught Cup,
the first truly national football competition,
was held in Fort William (now part of Thunder Bay).
See Dave Litterer's file on
the Canadian National Challenge Cup for an
overview of finals for the Connaught Cup, Challenge Trophy and Carling Cup
since 1913.
Between 2002 and 2007 this cup was awarded by the Voyageurs Group
(a fan association) to the Canadian USL-1 (formerly A-League) team
with the best record in the intra-Canadian matches.
It was handed over to the CSA to be awarded to the winners of the
qualification tournament for the CONCACAF Champions League, dubbed
Canadian Championship (bar sponsor name). Therefore, since 2008 the
winners are considered the official Canadian champions.
unofficial editions Year Winners Runners-Up 2002 Montréal Impact Toronto Lynx 2003 Montréal Impact Toronto Lynx 2004 Montréal Impact Toronto Lynx 2005 Montréal Impact Vancouver Whitecaps 2006 Montréal Impact Toronto Lynx 2007 Montréal Impact Vancouver Whitecaps official editions Year Winners Runners-Up 2008 Montréal Impact Toronto FC 2009 Toronto FC Vancouver Whitecaps 2010 Toronto FC Vancouver Whitecaps 2011 Toronto FC 1-1 2-1 Vancouver Whitecaps 2012 Toronto FC 1-1 1-0 Vancouver Whitecaps 2013 Montréal Impact 0-0 2-2 Vancouver Whitecaps 2014 Montréal Impact 1-1 1-0 Toronto FC 2015 Vancouver Whitecaps 2-2 2-0 Montréal Impact 2016 Toronto FC 1-0 1-2 Vancouver Whitecaps 2017 Toronto FC 1-1 2-1 Montréal Impact 2018 Toronto FC 2-2 5-2 Vancouver Whitecaps 2019 Montréal Impact 1-0 0-1 Toronto FC [3-1 pen] 2020 Toronto FC 1-1 Forge FC [5-4 pen] 2021 Montréal CF 1-0 Toronto FC 2022 Vancouver Whitecaps 1-1 Toronto FC [3-1 pen] 2023 Vancouver Whitecaps 2-1 Montréal CF 2024 Vancouver Whitecaps 0-0 Toronto FC [4-2 pen] Number of Wins (17; unofficial wins (6) between square brackets) 8 Toronto FC 5 [ 6] Montréal CF (includes Montréal Impact) 4 Vancouver Whitecaps
Three attempts were made to create a top level nationwide professional soccer league in Canada; the first folded after one season, the second after six; the third started in 2019.
Canadian Professional Soccer League Year Winners Runners-Up 1983 Edmonton Eagles 2-0 Hamilton Steelers Canadian Soccer League Year Winners Runners-Up 1987 Calgary Kickers 2-1 Hamilton Steelers 1988 Vancouver 86ers 4-1 Hamilton Steelers 1989 Vancouver 86ers 3-2 Hamilton Steelers 1990 Vancouver 86ers 6-1 Hamilton Steelers 1991 Vancouver 86ers 5-3 Toronto Blizzard 1992 Winnipeg Fury 2-0 1-1 Vancouver 86ers Number of Wins (7; runners-up finishes (7) between square brackets) 4 [ 1] Vancouver 86ers 1 Calgary Kickers 1 Edmonton Eagles 1 Winnipeg Fury [ 5] Hamilton Steelers [played and lost each of the first five finals] [ 1] Toronto Blizzard Canadian Premier League Year Winners Runners-Up 2019 Forge FC Cavalry FC 2020 Forge FC HFX Wanderers 2021 Pacific FC Forge FC 2022 Forge FC Atlético Ottawa 2023 Forge FC Cavalry FC 2024 Cavalry FC Forge FC Number of Wins (6; runners-up finishes (6) between square brackets) 4 [ 2] Forge FC (Hamilton) 1 [ 2] Cavalry FC (Foothills County) 1 Pacific FC (Langford) [ 1] Atlético Ottawa [ 1] HFX Wanderers (Halifax)
Soccer leagues in Canada with entrants predominantly from the Toronto area. Note that until 1984 the regular season winners were considered the overall champions; since 1984 the playoff winners are the overall champions instead.
Canadian National Soccer League Year Winners Runners-Up 1922 Toronto Ulster United 1923 Toronto Ulster United 1924 Toronto Ulster United 1925 not known 1926 Toronto Ulster United 5-1 1-0 Montréal NCR 1927 not held 1928 Montréal NCR 1-2 4-0 Toronto Ulster United 1929 Montréal NCR 1-0 3-2 Toronto Ulster United 1930 Toronto Scottish 1-1 4-3 Montréal Canadian Pacific Railway 1931 Toronto Scottish 2-1 2-2 Montréal Carsteel 1932 Toronto Ulster United 4-3 3-1 Montréal Carsteel 1933 Toronto Ulster United 5-0 3-2 Montréal Carsteel 1934 Toronto Ulster United 2-0 3-2 Montréal Carsteel 1935 Frood Mines Tigers 3-1 w/o Toronto Ulster United 1936 Montréal Carsteel 5-3 1-0 Toronto Ulster United 1937 Toronto British Consols 1-3 5-1 Falconbridge Falcons 1938 Montréal Victorias w/o Toronto Ulster United 1939 Toronto British Consols Montréal Carsteel 1940 Montréal Carsteel 3-2 2-1 Toronto Maple Leafs 1941 Toronto Ulster United 0-1 2-0 Montreal Carsteel 1942-46 not held 1947 Montréal Stelco 1948 Montréal Carsteel 3-1 3-3 Hamilton Westinghouse 1949 Toronto Canadians Hamilton Westinghouse 1950 Hamilton Westinghouse 3-2 1-1 Montreal Falcons 1951 Toronto Saint Andrews 1952 Toronto East End Canadians 1953 Toronto Ukrainians 1954 Toronto Ukrainians 1955 Toronto Ukrainians 1956 Polish White Eagles 1957 Toronto Italia 1958 Montréal Hungaria 1959 Montréal Cantalia [also playoff winners] 1960 Toronto Italia [also playoff winners] 1961 Toronto Roma [playoff winners: Toronto Ukrainians] 1962 Toronto Olympia [playoff winners: Italian Virtus] 1963 Italian Virtus [playoff winners: Toronto Ukrainians] 1964 Toronto Ukrainians [also playoff winners] 1965 Toronto Ukrainians [playoff winners: Toronto Hakoah] 1966 Windsor Teutonia [playoff winners; regular season not finished] 1967 Hamilton Primos [playoff winners: Windsor Teutonia] 1968 Sudbury Italia 1969 Toronto First Portuguese [playoff winners: Toronto Italia] 1970 Toronto Croatia [playoff winners: Hamilton Croatia] 1971 Toronto Croatia [also playoff winners] 1972 Toronto Croatia [playoff winners: Toronto Italia] 1973 Toronto Croatia [playoff winners: Toronto Hungaria] 1974 Serbian White Eagles [playoff winners: Toronto Croatia] 1975 Toronto Italia 1976 Toronto Italia 1977 Montréal Castors [playoff winners: Toronto Panhellenic] 1978 Montréal Castors [playoff winners: Toronto Falcons] 1979 Toronto First Portuguese 1980 Toronto Falcons [playoff winners: Toronto Panhellenic] 1981 Hamilton Steelers 1982 Toronto Italia 1983 not known 1984 Toronto Italia [regular season winners: Dynamo Latino] 1985 London Marconi [regular season winners: Toronto Italia] 1986 Toronto Blizzard [regular season winners: Toronto Italia] 1987 Windsor Wheels [regular season winners: Toronto Italia] 1988 Toronto Italia [also regular season winners] 1989 Toronto Italia 1990 Toronto First Portuguese [also regular season winners] 1991 Scarborough International [also regular season winners] 1992 Woodbridge Azzurri [regular season winners: Toronto Croatia] 1993 Saint Catharines Roma [regular season winners: Toronto Rockets] 1994 Toronto Italia [also regular season winners] 1995 Saint Catharines Wolves [regular season winners: Toronto Jets] 1996 Toronto Italia [also regular season winners] 1997 Saint Catharines Wolves [also regular season winners] Canadian Professional Soccer League 1998 Toronto Olympians Canadian Premier Soccer League 1999 Toronto Olympians 2000 Toronto Croatia 2001 Saint Catharines Roma Wolves 2002 Ottawa Wizards 2003 Brampton Hitmen 2004 Toronto Croatia 2005 Oakville Blue Devils Canadian Soccer League 2006 Italia Shooters 2007 Toronto Croatia 2008 Serbian White Eagles 2009 Trois-Rivières Attak 2010 Brantford Galaxy 2011 Toronto Croatia 2012 Toronto Croatia 2013 SC Waterloo 2014 York Region Shooters 2015 Toronto Croatia 2016 Serbian White Eagles 2017 York Region Shooters 2018 FC Vorkuta 2019 Scarborough SC 2020 FC Vorkuta 2021 Scarborough SC 2022 FC Continentals [*] 2023 Scarborough SC 2024 Serbian White Eagles [*] FC Vorkuta were renamed FC Continentals in 2022
Thanks to Colin Jose
Prepared and maintained by Hans Schöggl and Karel Stokkermans for the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
Authors: Hans Schöggl and Karel Stokkermans
Last updated: 24 Feb 2025
(C) Copyright Hans Schöggl, Karel Stokkermans and RSSSF 2013/25
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