What Does Success Mean For Each CPL Team This Year?

The 2026 Canadian Premier League season is upon us, and even the strongest memories of last year’s title-winning icycle kick have seen at least a little thawing.

It’s new year set for plenty of change: with one club out and another one in, the league is introducing a bevy of big-scale rule changes that could help upset the proverbial apple cart.

So, what does success mean for each club? The obvious answer is they l want to win, but the truth is something a little more grey.

Here’s what should be each club’s mission statement for 2026, respective of their place in league hierarchy and how the offseason has gone:

Atletico Ottawa – New Faces, Same Title

Let’s face it: Atletico Ottawa has shed plenty of heavyweight talent this offseason, and after the Champions Cup cold open there are still sizeable question marks about whether the club has found quality replacements for Ingham, Salter, and icicycle kick phenom Rodriguez.

Still, the expectations for the reigning champions could not be higher: the only follow up expected to a title-winning season is to defend the crown you’ve won. DJ Khaled calls that suffering from success, though it might not be music to the ears of ATO fans this year: they had some yo-yo seasons in the Gonzalez era, but perhaps the Mejia era will prove different. We’ll find out in short order.

Cavalry FC – Stick The Final

Cavalry has been to the last three Canadian Premier League finals but only broke the proverbial duck once in 2024, emerging victorious – at last – in front of a sellout home crowd.

Let’s be honest: after falling a wondergoal shy of a win last year, they hadn’t done much wrong and have enjoyed a brilliant offseason in the time since. Nathan Ingham and Amer Didic arrived from Ottawa, elite internationals Tobias Warschewski and Daan Klomp star in place, and even after Tommy’s new additions they somehow had Ali Musse fall back in their lap, too.

There is only one mission statement for this legacy side: reach the final and get it over the finish line. Anything less is Groundhog Day for that at the horse grounds.

Halifax Wanderers – A Victory For Vanni

The Halifax Wanderers made one thing very clear after sacking Patrice Gheisar following a round one playoff exit: this club is pushing strong standards, so being ‘somewhat up there’ is not enough.

Enter Vanni Sartini: the popular Whitecaps head coach is the first MLS gaffer to join a CPL side and is an absolute coup. Eyeballs outside the league will be seeing how a coach of his calibre goes at lifting his side into a strong playoff contender, and so far the offseason favours optimism in that regard, with the new Halifax squad looking prepped for a kitchen party.

Top three for Vanni is a win. Anything else and we’re on shaky ground, because one hasn’t really improved things otherwise.

Forge FC – Book That CPL Final Ticket

Forge is the gold standard when it comes to CPL sides, which is why falling just shy of a CPL Final last year was unexpected. After retooling in the offseason, Bobby Smyrniotis has assembled a strong-looking side that looks capable of hitting two big agenda items this year: making a strong Canadian Championship run, and reaching the CPL Final, both something they’ve got strong experience in.

Time and players change. Forge’s steadfast hold as a perennial powerhouse and a league favourite does not. Anything less than a trip to the CPL Final does not restore the power quo.

Inter Toronto FC – New Club, New Era

Make no mistake: anything under a top three finish is not what the Pasquel brothers set out for. It’s top three or bust.

Following a strong offseason that saw players like Ollie Bassett and Beni Badibanga join amongst some Liga MX veterans, amongst others, Inter Toronto needs to come in and wave its new flag high this year, especially if the club is angling for a move downtown as a more budget-friendly competitor to Toronto FC’s entertainment dollars.

While the club has placed a lot of faith in young goalkeepers, this is – and not for the first time – an important year of transformation for then club. Top three puts them in contender territory, but ‘just’ making playoffs is no longer good enough for this side.

Pacific FC – Don’t Be An Edmonton, Don’t Be A Valour

It’s harsh at face value, but let’s face it: Pacific FC looks a long distance from the team we saw hoist the title under Pa-Modou Kah in 2021. They enter the season with the club for sale, at financial odds with their landlord, and just posted an offseason that didn’t turn heads.

It’s an era that smells like what FC Edmonton and Valour FC endured before their folding, though the hopes are that the Vancouver Isle team punches up. If they make playoffs, it’s been a successful season by default, but we’re just hoping Pacific and Vancouver FC don’t fill the south side of the league standings under the same ownership.

FC Supra du Quebec – Ring La Belle

Bonjour, Quebec – it’s been a long time coming. We have written over 5,000 articles since David Clanachan first said the league needed you.

The key notes for FC Supra du Quebec will simply be to establish itself as a strong competitor and learn lessons this year. There are a lot of young faces and a lot to prove in the tantalizing ‘Ontario vs Quebec’ derbies to come. Has the side over-relied on CS Saint-Laurent? I don’t know, but they’ve also made some cracking signings to counter-balance the amount of semi-pro experience in the team. Going all-in on Quebecois talent is as admirable as it is interesting (and we do mean that positively).

Quebecers do things their own way, and that’s part of what makes the inaugural FC Supra season so fun to watch. Maybe they’ll ball out, maybe they’ve gone too heavy on attack and too light on defense. Either way, it’s going to be fun to watch. A strong introductory season equates to long-term success in this brand new market, and if they’re entertaining in the pitch, year one gives them a lot of flexibility to define success.

Vancouver FC – Make Playoffs, Baby

There is only one way to make Vancouver’s fourth Canadian Premier League season a success: make playoffs by any means necessary. Squeaking in as the regular season takes a bow? That counts, and might just be Martin Nash’s speciality. So long as it happens. They cannot just be the best last-placed team in the history of the league, after all.

When former head coach Afshin Ghotbi was announced ahead of year one, he publicly (bravely? foolishly?) aspired to challenge for a league title in year one and win one by year three. Instead, they have never made playoffs. That’s a badge of shame that the other, now-defunct VFC wore for its entire existence, so it’s time for Vancouver to shake off the VFC curse and make it happen.

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The 2026 Canadian Premier League season kicks off today with a strong opener between regular season champion Forge and playoff champion Atletico Ottawa, and we will also see Vanni Sartini show his Halifax side his old home, with Vancouver FC hosting the east coasters.

The weekend’s action will close with a western clash between Pacific and last year’s runner-up Cavalry FC.

Newly-rebranded Inter Toronto and FC Supra du Quebec both have a bye, and no, we don’t know why either – so soak up the three matches on offer if you’re able!