NatChamps
Canada Soccer has confirmed the format for this year’s Youth National Championships that will be hosted in St. John’s, Newfoundland & Labrador as well as Surrey, British Columbia from 7-12 October. The four 2026 divisions will all feature the same 12-team format for the U-17 Cup in St. John’s (boys and girls) and the U-15 Cup in Surrey (boys and girls).
Canada Soccer’s provincial and territorial members have up until Thursday 12 March to declare their participation and confirm their qualifying competitions to this year’s youth divisions for the U-17 Cup and U-15 Cup.
As part of the Youth Competitions Network, an enhanced schedule for the Youth National Championships was introduced in 2025 whereby each division now features 12 qualified teams. Group matches are played Wednesday through Friday followed by knockout and playoff matches from Saturday through Monday. Each host welcomes the qualified teams to their community with a unique Opening Ceremony, friendly volunteers at each of the competition venues, transportation to and from the team hotels, and a Finals Day atmosphere whereby all teams are in attendance for the Canadian Finals.
New this year, all matches in each three-team group will be played to a decision, with a penalty shootout to follow any match tied after 90 minutes. As outlined in the competition Regulations published in November, three points will be awarded for a win in regulation time, one point will be awarded to each for the draw, and an additional point will be awarded for the winner of the penalty shootout.
Canada Soccer’s National Championships are hosted each October across multiple divisions and venues, with other host cities to be announced in the coming months. As Canada Soccer’s largest national event featuring clubs from coast to coast to coast, the National Championships provide a meaningful week-long soccer experience for host cities and participating teams, as well as the players, coaches, support staff, officials, and volunteers.
As Canada’s most accessible sport, soccer welcomes more than 750,000 registered players across the nation. This past year alone, 580 youth teams took part in qualifying for the National Championships in the U-17 and U-15 age groups for both boys and girls. From that group, 12 youth teams qualified in each of the four divisions, with each host venue hosting 24 qualified teams across the week-long event heading into the Canadian Finals on Thanksgiving Monday.
After the 12 March deadline for declarations, seeding in each 2026 division will be based on the provincial/territorial soccer’s organisation’s highest final ranking in that same division of the 2025 Youth National Championships. As part of the hosting rights to the National Championships, St. John’s SC has been awarded a berth in both the boys’ and girls’ divisions of the U-17 Cup while Surrey FC has been awarded a berth in the boys’ division of the U-15 Cup.
The list of qualified teams to Canada Soccer’s national amateur competitions is published at https://canadasoccer.com/2026-qualified-amateur-teams/.
Share Article