2019 Canadian Championship


The 2019 Canadian Championship was the twelfth edition of the Canadian Championship, contested from May 15 to September 25, 2019. Montreal Impact won their fourth Canadian Championship title and earned a berth in the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League.
The competition expanded to thirteen teams with the introduction of the seven Canadian Premier League clubs, the most in the competition's history. The 2019 tournament also marked the first time that clubs from Manitoba and Nova Scotia were represented in the Canadian Championship, and the return of clubs from Alberta after none participated in 2018.
Cavalry FC's 2–1 aggregate defeat of Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the tournament's third qualifying round marked the first time in the history of the Canadian Championship that an MLS team was defeated by a non-MLS team in a home-and-away series.
Ignacio Piatti was the tournament's top scorer with four goals and won the George Gross Memorial Trophy, while Zachary Brault-Guillard received the inaugural Best Young Canadian Player award for the best Canadian player of the tournament aged 21 or younger.

Format

The format of the competition was changed to include the seven CPL clubs, and consisted of three qualifying rounds before semi-finals and a final. All rounds were played in a two-legged tie format. In the first qualifying round, the League1 Ontario champion Vaughan Azzurri, Première Ligue de soccer du Québec champion A.S. Blainville, and four CPL clubs entered the competition. They were joined by the remaining three CPL clubs in the second qualifying round. In the third qualifying round, Ottawa Fury FC and two Major League Soccer teams entered. The previous year's champion, Toronto FC, received a bye to the semi-final.

Distribution

Qualified clubs

ClubLocationLeaguePrevious bestPrior appearances
A.S. BlainvilleBlainville, QuebecPremière Ligue de soccer du Québec1
Cavalry FCFoothills County, AlbertaCanadian Premier LeagueN/A0
FC EdmontonEdmonton, AlbertaCanadian Premier League7
Forge FCHamilton, OntarioCanadian Premier LeagueN/A0
HFX WanderersHalifax, Nova ScotiaCanadian Premier LeagueN/A0
Montreal ImpactMontreal, QuebecMajor League Soccer11
Ottawa FuryOttawa, OntarioUSL Championship5
Pacific FCLangford, British ColumbiaCanadian Premier LeagueN/A0
Toronto FCToronto, OntarioMajor League Soccer11
Valour FCWinnipeg, ManitobaCanadian Premier LeagueN/A0
Vancouver Whitecaps FCVancouver, British ColumbiaMajor League Soccer11
Vaughan AzzurriVaughan, OntarioLeague1 OntarioN/A0
York9 FCToronto, OntarioCanadian Premier LeagueN/A0

Note

Bracket

First qualifying round

Summary

The first legs were held on May 15, and the second legs on May 22, 2019.

Matches

3–3 on aggregate. HFX Wanderers won on away goals.
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Cavalry FC won 4–1 on aggregate.
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York9 won 1–0 on aggregate.

Second qualifying round

Summary

The first legs were held on June 4 and 5, and the second legs were held on June 11 and 12, 2019.

Matches

York9 FC won 3–2 on aggregate.
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Cavalry FC won 3–2 on aggregate.
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HFX Wanderers won 4–1 on aggregate.

Third qualifying round

Summary

The first legs were held on July 10, and the second legs were held on July 24, 2019.

Matches

Ottawa Fury won 5–4 on aggregate.
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Montreal Impact won 3–2 on aggregate.
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Cavalry FC won 2–1 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

Summary

The first legs were held on August 7, and the second legs were held on August 14, 2019.

Matches

Toronto FC won 5–0 on aggregate.
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Montreal Impact won 3–1 on aggregate.

Final

Summary

The first leg was held on September 18, and the second leg was held on September 25, 2019.The higher-seeded team in the final, Toronto FC, chose to play the first leg away.

Matches

1–1 on aggregate. Montreal Impact won 3–1 on penalties.

Goalscorers