2023 Canadian Championship Draw Details
By All you need to know ahead of next Tuesday’s draw
The draw details of the 2023 Canadian Championship were made known earlier today by Canada Soccer. Now going into its sixteenth edition, the knockout tournament will feature more teams than ever before.
Here are the details ahead of next Tuesday’s draw and what to expect:
Draw details
The 2023 Canadian Championship Draw will take place next Tuesday, January 31 at 8:00 PM EST, and will be streamed live on OneSoccer. Former winners of the competition Terry Dunfield and Tosaint Rickets will assist with the draw.
Like recent years, the draw will be regionalized, with an east and west bracket. The finalists of the 2022 edition – the Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC – will get byes to the quarterfinals. The remaining twelve teams will partake in the first round.
The pots for the draw are as follows:
West Group (5): Vancouver FC, TSS Rovers, Pacific, Cavalry, Valour
East Group Professional Clubs (5): Atletico Ottawa, York United, Forge, CF Montréal, HFX Wanderers
East Group Semi-Professional Clubs (2): Vaughan Azzurri, FC Laval
Byes (2): Vancouver Whitecaps, Toronto FC
Ahead of the draw, one of the professional teams from the east group will join the west group to have an even six teams in each pot. This will be determined by draw. The Whitecaps are in the west region, while Toronto FC is in the east region.
Once the draw is balanced regarding number of teams in each region, the matchups will be determined. The semi-professional teams in the east region cannot face each other in the opening round. Host teams, where applicable, will be determined by an additional draw.
The whole bracket will be completed that evening, including the hosting team for every round of the tournament.
It is worth noting that Vancouver FC, Cavalry, Valour and the Halifax Wanderers will not be hosting their respective first round games due to field availability and weather conditions. Furthermore, a source has confirmed that all three League 1 Canada teams are able to host should they be drawn as the home team.
Since Cavalry, Valour and Vancouver FC are all in the west region, it means that both Pacific FC and TSS Rovers will be hosting one of the first three sides mentioned.
Finally, the Halifax Wanderers cannot join the western half of the bracket as there are already three teams there who cannot host their first round match. As a result, only CF Montreal or one of the CPL Ontario-based teams can be moved to the western region.
Regarding the matches themselves, the first round will take place between 18-20 April, the quarterfinals are set for 9-11 May, and the semifinals will be from 23-25 May. The Final will be sometime in June.