#CanChamp
Canada Soccer has confirmed the draw procedures for the 2026 TELUS Canadian Championship, bringing the country’s premier domestic cup competition one step closer to kickoff. This year’s Draw will take place on 17 January 2026, during the Men’s National Team Friendly against Guatemala, LIVE on OneSoccer. The annual Battle of the North will once again feature the top men’s professional clubs from across Canada, alongside league champions from League1 Canada, as 15 teams compete for the prestigious Voyageurs Cup.
The 2026 edition of the TELUS Canadian Championship will feature a 15-club field for a second consecutive year. Fourteen clubs will enter the competition in the Preliminary Round, with the seven winners advancing to the Quarter-Final Round. They will be joined by reigning champions Vancouver Whitecaps FC, who receive a bye to the Quarter-Finals as winners of the 2025 TELUS Canadian Championship.
Clubs from Major League Soccer, the Canadian Premier League, and Ligue1 Canada will participate in the 2026 competition.
The four-highest ranked clubs based on the Canadian Championship Club Ranking Index will be pre-seeded so that they do not meet before the Semi-Final Round (Pot 1).
The remaining clubs will be drawn from western and eastern pots: Pacific FC, Vancouver FC, Cavalry FC, Langley United and Calgary Blizzard SC in Pot 2; Atlético Ottawa, Inter Toronto FC, Halifax Wanderers FC, FC Supra du Québec, CS Saint-Laurent and Woodbridge Strikers SC in Pot 3.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC, ranked first overall, have been pre-seeded directly into the Quarter-Final Round. Forge FC, Toronto FC, and CF Montréal have been allocated to designated positions within the Preliminary Round bracket.
All other teams will be drawn into the Preliminary Round from regionalized pots, ensuring geographic balance and preventing semi-professional clubs from facing one another in the opening round.
The Preliminary Round draw will allocate clubs into seven single-match fixtures. As a general rule, the higher-ranked club in each matchup, based on the Canadian Championship Club Ranking Index, will host the match.
The Quarter-Final and Semi-Final Rounds will be played as two-match, home-and-away series. In each series, the lower-ranked club will host the first leg, with the higher-ranked club hosting the second leg.
Hosting rights for the Final Match will be determined through the draw in Pot 4.
The TELUS Canadian Championship continues to be one of the most anticipated events on the Canadian soccer calendar, showcasing intense rivalries, emerging talent, and the pursuit of national silverware. The winner will lift the Voyageurs Cup and earn a place in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
The Official Draw for the Men’s 2026 TELUS Canadian Championship will air live on OneSoccer , available on the fuboTV Canada platform, as a linear channel on Telus’s Optik TV (Channel 980), as well as online at OneSoccer.ca and through the OneSoccer app. Fans will find extended coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, Bluesky, and YouTube featuring the hashtag #CanChamp.
The Official Draw will be followed by the live pre-match show and Men’s International Friendly match featuring Canada against Guatemala at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles. The 17 January match (22.00 ET / 19.00 PT) will kick off Canada’s “Road to 2026” in support of the Men’s National Team’s ongoing preparations for the FIFA World Cup 26™.
Canada Soccer’s TELUS Canadian Championship is the nation’s highest domestic knockout tournament featuring clubs from coast to coast competing for the Voyageurs Cup. The 2026 TELUS Canadian Championship brings together 15 qualified clubs from Major League Soccer, the Canadian Premier League, and League1 Canada to determine Canada’s best team in the annual Battle of the North. Winners of the domestic TELUS Canadian Championship qualify for the annual international competition Concacaf Champions Cup on the road to the FIFA Club World Cup.
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