The draw for the 17th edition of the Canadian Championship took place on Tuesday night at the OneSoccer studios. All eight Canadian Premier League clubs learned their first round matchups, as well as hosting duties and possible matchups for the rest of the competition.
That included Vancouver FC, who are making their inaugural appearance in the competition. Vancouver were drawn against York United away for their first ever Canadian Championship match. The winner of that match will host defending champions Vancouver Whitecaps of Major League Soccer in the quarter-finals.
Also appearing in the Canadian Championship for the first time are PLSQ champion FC Laval and TSS Rovers of the newly formed League 1 BC, expanding the tournament to an all-time high 14 clubs.
The defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps and finalists Toronto FC were given byes through the first round of the competition. TFC are the all-time winningest club in competition history, picking up their eighth title last year in the delayed 2020 Canadian Championship final, winning on penalties against Forge FC.
This year’s tournament, which is single game knockout, will start on April 18, and run until June 2023. Full dates and times for all of the matchups will be revealed at a later date.
The draw was regionalized by east and west. One eastern side, York United, were drawn into the western bracket to even out numbers.
Western bracket — First round matchups
TSS Rovers vs. Valour FC
Pacific FC vs. Cavalry FC
York United FC vs. Vancouver FC
Eastern bracket — First round matchups
Forge FC vs. Laval FC
Halifax Wanderers vs. Atlético Ottawa
CF Montréal vs. Vaughan SC
Here is the full bracket:
The 2023 #CanChamp Bracket is SET 🇨🇦🏆 pic.twitter.com/YHg1TQrd4n
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) February 1, 2023