Canadian Premier League embracing global spotlight as 8th season begins

Gemma Karstens-Smith · The Canadian Press

· Posted: Apr 02, 2026 7:52 AM EDT | Last Updated: 17 minutes ago

With the FIFA World Cup coming to Canada and plans in place for a notable rule change, the eyes of the soccer world are sure to turn to the Canadian Premier League this season.

Those at the top of the eight-team national league believe it is ready for the glare.

"They're going to be pleasantly surprised by this national league in Canada and these players," said CPL executive vice-president Costa Smyrniotis.

"Ultimately, the question is going to be, where's the next Jonathan David, where's the next Alphonso Davies? And all roads lead back to CPL. And this is our kind of opportunity to kind of say that loud and clear and ensure that the world is watching."

The CPL will kick off its eighth season Saturday when Forge FC host Atletico Ottawa in Hamilton at 12 p.m. ET (CBC TV, CBC Gem, CBCSports.ca).

Forge finished the 2025 regular season atop the standings, but it was Atletico who captured the championship last November in a dramatic game that included a blizzard, a viral goal and extra time.

As heavy snow fell at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa, David Rodriguez struck a stunning overhead bicycle kick that hit the underside of the crossbar of the Cavalry FC goal and fell behind the goal line, tying the game at 1-1.

Broadcaster OneSoccer has said footage of the play — dubbed the "icicle kick" — was viewed more than one billion times over the next five days.

WATCH | The 'icicle' kick that lifted Ottawa to victory:

Rodriguez scored his second goal of the game in extra time to secure the dramatic victory for Atletico.

The championship game showed onlookers that the CPL is a great, unique product, said commissioner James Johnson.

"It needs to be interesting. It needs to be appealing. There needs to be surprise, there needs to be suspense in everything we do," he said. "So that's what we're focused on."

Playing the biggest game of the season in the snow gave soccer fans a different story than what they've seen before, he added.

"We wanted that point of differentiation," Johnson said. "And that's actually the difference between breaking into mainstream and not being as relevant."

The CPL will enter uncharted territory this season when it becomes the first professional league to trial FIFA's so-called "daylight" offside rule.

Under the alternate rule, an attacking player will only be ruled offside if there is a gap — or "daylight" — between them and the second-to-last defender.

If at least one part of the attacker's body that can be used to score — not their hands or arms — is in line with or behind the defender, they will be considered onside.

The league says the trial, which runs through the 2026 campaign, aims to restore a greater attacking advantage and boost the flow of matches by introducing a "clearer visual threshold."

Other rules are also being introduced to make the game more exciting, Johnson said, including the ability for officials to give corner kicks for time wasting, and swap which team is conducting a throw-in if it takes too long.

"These are all designed at making the game more attacking, more interesting, and ensuring that the ball is in play for longer periods. Which is what we want," he said of the tweaks. "We want a great product, so that our fans can grow, and also the existing fans are happy."

The CPL will look slightly different in 2026 with the addition of one team and the loss of another.

The league announced in November that one of its founding clubs, Winnipeg's Valour FC, would cease operations at the end of the season following two years of steep losses.

The addition of expansion FC Supra du Quebec means the league will remain at eight teams.

Supra brings "something different" to the league, Smyrniotis said.

"It's going to create an excitement. It's going to be a great road trip for a lot of our clubs as well. We're really looking forward to it," he said. "And as you look across the country, you're filling in the geography, you're in all the right places, you're telling some great stories along the way, which I think is just paramount."

All of the changes come in a season where soccer will be under the spotlight as Vancouver and Toronto host a combined 13 World Cup games.

With so much attention on the sport across Canada this summer, the CPL knows it has a prime opportunity to bring in new fans, Johnson said.

While league play will pause June 11-25 as group-stage games are played, it will resume on June 26 as the knockout stages begin. Throughout the World Cup, CPL clubs will host watch parties and the league will host a "Canada Soccer House" in both North Vancouver and Toronto.

"It's about making sure that the CPL is there to capture the interest that the World Cup generates, so that it can be the vehicle that takes the sport forward after the World Cup comes and goes," Johnson said.

This World Cup is an important moment for the CPL, Smyrniotis said, in part because founding a national league was a condition for Canada being awarded games.

He remembers those conversations taking place and said it's tremendously exciting to be on the cusp not only of the World Cup, but of the CPL's eighth season.

The league has always been about growing soccer in Canada, Smyrniotis said, and that's happening.

"We're starting to see it within our league. We're starting to see more personalities grow up within our league, develop in our league," he said.

"We elevate them, tell some great stories within our league, and then we celebrate them when they're with the national team, or they're playing at a bigger club within this global game. So that for us is, obviously, something that we're really happy about."