Seven Canadian Premier League clubs granted Canada Soccer National Club Licence

Ahead of the kickoff of the inaugural Canadian Premier League season, Canada Soccer announced that all seven professional clubs in membership have been granted Canada Soccer National Club Licences. Forge FC, Valour FC, FC Edmonton, HFX Wanderers FC, York9 FC, Cavalry FC and Pacific FC all met the requirements of Canada Soccer’s highest Club Licence.

Launched in 2017, the Canada Soccer National Club Licence denotes that professional clubs in membership have fulfilled all the criteria as outlined by Canada Soccer for domestic league Canadian Championship participation and by Concacaf to be eligible clubs for Confederation competition (Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League, Scotiabank Concacaf League) leading to international competition (i.e. FIFA Club World Cup).

The Canada Soccer Professional Club Licence outlines the regulation criteria related to infrastructure; technical and sporting; administration; governance, financial and legal; and social responsibility. The program seeks to understand and safeguard club soccer in Canada, raise the level of professionalism in club soccer administration, identify and share club and league best practices to further development, and formalize requirement for participation in international, national, and regional competition.