Canada Soccer publishes 2025 Regulations for the National Championships

Canada Soccer has published the 2025 Regulations for this year’s National Championships supporting the multiple amateur divisions from youth soccer to adult soccer. As Canada Soccer’s largest national event featuring amateur clubs from coast to coast to coast, the National Championships provide a meaningful week-long experience for players, coaches, support staff, officials and volunteers.

Qualifiers for the 2025 National Championships got underway in September 2024 and will continue through September 2025. Provincial and territorial soccer organisations have up until 6 March 2025 to declare their intention to participate in this year’s 2025 National Championships.

This past year, Canada Soccer supported a record 105 qualified teams to its national amateur competitions across the Futsal Canadian Championship (April), the Player-Development Program Championship (August), and the National Championships (October). The 105 qualified teams came from a group of more than 900 amateur teams competing in men’s and women’s divisions in the adult, U-17 and U-15 categories from May 2023 through October 2024.

Regulations for Canada Soccer’s national amateur competitions are reviewed each winter in consultation with the Competitions Committee. This year’s review process included direct feedback from Member Associations and Participating Clubs, post-event surveys with participants including coaches and managers, December workshops with members of the Competitions Committee, plus consultation and feedback from Canada Soccer staff.

Amendments to the Regulations for the National Championships include:

• Greater inclusivity so that more amateur players in Canada can take part in the national amateur competitions
  • All players eligible to compete in PTSO competitions should also be eligible to compete at the National Championships
• Increase in the roster size for men’s and women’s adult amateur competitions (now up to 21 players per team)
  • Increase in the number of call-up requests permitted for each qualified team (now up to three requests per team)

The competition Regulations work alongside the Canada Soccer Rules & Regulations, Canada Soccer By-Laws, Canada Soccer Disciplinary Code, Canada Soccer Code of Conduct & Ethics, as well as any and all policies governed by Canada Soccer. For the 2025 National Championships, Canada Soccer will abide by the 2024-25 edition of the Laws of the Game. Links to these documents can be accessed through each respective competition landing page at canadasoccer.com/competitions.

Canada Soccer’s National Championships are hosted each October across six divisions in three venues: the adult competition for the men’s Challenge Trophy and women’s Jubilee Trophy; the U-17 Cup competition for boys and girls; the U-15 Cup competition for boys and girls. In 2025, the National Championships will be hosted in St. John’s, Newfoundland Labrador (Challenge Trophy and Jubilee Trophy), Kamloops, British Columbia (U-17 Cup), and Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island (U-15 Cup).