The Dominion of Canada Football Association, today known as the Canadian Soccer Association, was founded in Winnipeg, Manitoba, in July 1912.[2][3] The organization joined FIFA on December 31, 1912. On June 21, 1926, the DCFA resigned from FIFA, only to rejoin on June 20, 1948. The governing body of the game retained that name until it was changed to The Football Association of Canada on June 6, 1952. The association later changed its name to the Canadian Soccer Football Association in 1958 and then at last to the Canadian Soccer Association in 1971.
Canada Soccer is a non-profit organization governed by a board of directors consisting of 14 directors: a President, Vice President, six elected directors, and six appointed or independent directors.[4][5] Each of the six elected directors is elected from one of six geographic regions. The board must include at least three men and three women.
Canada Soccer is administered by the General Secretariat. The general secretary is the chief executive of Soccer Canada, and is appointed by the board of directors.[4]
Canada Soccer is a member of the worldwide soccer body FIFA and the North American soccer body CONCACAF and also has a relationship with the International Olympic Committee.
Canada Soccer's objectives, as described in its by-laws, are to:[4]
promote, regulate and control the game of soccer throughout Canada, particularly through youth and development programs;
organize competitions in Association Football in all its forms at a national level, by defining the areas of authority conceded to the various leagues of which it is composed;
draw up Association Football regulations and provisions, and ensure their enforcement;
protect the interests of its Members;
respect and prevent any infringement of the statutes, regulations, directives and decisions of FIFA, CONCACAF and The CSA, as well as the Laws of the Game;
prevent all methods or practices that jeopardize the integrity of matches or competitions or give rise to abuse of Association Football;
control and supervise all friendly Association Football matches played throughout Canada;
manage international sporting relations connected with Association Football;
host competitions at international and other levels.
The men's national soccer team have played at the FIFA World Cup on two occasions, in 1986, and 2022. They have yet to make it through to the knockout stages. By qualifying for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Canada ended a 36-year drought. Canada with Mexico and the United States will jointly host the 2026 FIFA World Cup in the first 48-team event.
Canada have played at the CONCACAF Gold Cup on eighteen occasions, most recently in 2021. They co-hosted the tournament in 2015, where they finished 4th in their group, and did not advance to the knockout stage.
Canada has played at the Summer Olympics on four occasions, most recently at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, where they were crowned champions for the very first time.
Despite a long history of professional soccer in the country, Canada have struggled to build and sustain domestic soccer leagues. They have gone through many different iterations, finally landing on the Canadian Premier League that was founded in 2019.
The Canadian Premier League (CPL) is the top division of soccer in Canada. It is the only fully professional, and only fully national league in the system. Founded in 2019, the CPL is composed of eight teams and is sanctioned by the CSA. There are also three Canadian teams which play in Major League Soccer, the first-division league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, reflecting a longstanding practice of major Canadian sports franchises competing in American leagues.
At the professional level, Canada's domestic cup is the Canadian Championship. Founded in 2008, the Canadian Championship is an annual tournament contested by Canadian professional teams and the champions of each League1 Canada division. The winner is awarded the Voyageurs Cup and a berth in the CONCACAF Champions Cup.[6] Canada's best performance in the CONCACAF Champions Cup came in the 2014–15 competition, when Montreal Impact reached the finals.[7]Toronto FC also reached the final in 2018 where they fell in penalties to C.D. Guadalajara.[8]
Women
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Northern Super League has been announced. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(May 2024)
In 2022, former national team player Diana Matheson and then national team captain Christine Sinclair announced a new Canadian women's professional league which will start play in April 2025.[13] Matheson and Project 8 Sports Inc. are leading this effort while Sinclair is involved in an advisory role.[13]
Six teams are expected to play the inaugural season of the Northern Super League. Halifax Tides FC, AFC Toronto, Calgary Wild FC, Montreal Roses, Ottawa Rapid and Vancouver Rise are expected to take the field in 2025.
In July 2022, an independent review summarized in a 125-page report by McLaren Global Sport Solution, commissioned by Canada Soccer, concluded that Canada Soccer mishandled sexual harassment allegations in 2008 against then Canada U-20 women's soccer coach Bob Birarda, who was later found guilty of three counts of sexual assault. It said Canada Soccer was "described by many as being dysfunctional and inefficient" in 2007 and 2008, and concluded among other things that "harassment was not a priority issue amongst the senior Canadian Soccer Association leadership team" at the time.[15]
In 2022, Canada Soccer's then newly appointed Secretary General Earl Cochrane said: "We are going to be leaders in this safe sport – through policy, practice, programs."[16]
On July 22, 2024, New Zealand’s women’s soccer team made a startling report to French authorities, claiming a drone had been flying over their practice sessions in Saint-Étienne. French investigators quickly traced the drone to Joseph Lombardi, a staff member of Canada Soccer.
The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) confirmed that both Lombardi and assistant coach Jasmine Mander, had been sent home. In response, Canadian head coach Beverly Priestman issued a public statement clarifying that, while she hadn’t "directed" the staffers responsible for the drone, she was stepping down from coaching the upcoming game. She also offered an apology to New Zealand, acknowledging that the actions didn’t reflect the values her team stands for. Canada Soccer quickly launched an investigation into the matter, with FIFA soon announcing it would hold its own disciplinary hearings.[17]
Canada Soccer’s CEO, Kevin Blue, spoke to reporters, suggesting that, based on initial findings, the drone incident might not have been an isolated one, but part of a "systemic culture." He added that Priestman would not be coaching the Canadian team at the Paris Olympics.
Following their investigation, FIFA announced that Priestman, Lombardi, and Mander were all found responsible for "offensive behavior" and violations of fair play. As a result, the three were handed a one-year ban from all soccer-related activities, and Canada’s national team was hit with a six-point penalty in the ongoing Olympics, making their already challenging route to the knockout stages even harder. [18]
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