The 2023 Canadian Premier League season was the fifth season of the Canadian Premier League, the top men's professional level of the Canadian Soccer Association's league system. The CPL Shield was won by Cavalry FC who finished first in the regular season by a 13 point margin. In the CPL final, Forge FC defeated Cavalry FC 2–1 in Hamilton to capture the North Star Cup. In doing so, Forge became league champions for the fourth time in five seasons. Both title winning clubs qualified for the newly expanded 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Team and rule changes Eight teams competed in the 2023 season with the debut of Vancouver FC, and the dissolution of FC Edmonton. The league's playoff structure changed to a five-team Page playoff system with four elimination matches and one non-elimination match.
The league's player compensation budget increased by $175,000 compared to 2022. Teams were required to spend between $750,000 and $1,025,000 on their 20–23 player rosters with a minimum of $30,000 per player. A team making full use of the U-21 salary rule could reach a compensation maximum of $1,125,000. In July 2023, the CPL introduced the Exceptional Youth Talent (EYT) designation which teams can apply to two U-18 players who are on standard contracts. EYT players do not count towards the 23 player roster limit and a portion of their salaries do not count towards the cap.
Teams Stadiums and locations
Club Location Stadium Capacity Atlético Ottawa Ottawa TD Place Stadium 24,000 Cavalry FC Foothills County ATCO Field 6,000 Forge FC Hamilton Tim Hortons Field 23,218 HFX Wanderers FC Halifax Wanderers Grounds 6,500 Pacific FC Langford Starlight Stadium 6,000 Valour FC Winnipeg IG Field 33,000 Vancouver FC Langley Willoughby Community Park Stadium 6,560 York United FC Toronto York Lions Stadium 4,000
Personnel and sponsorship +TeamHead coachCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor (chest)Shirt sponsor (sleeve)Atlético Ottawa Carlos González Carl HaworthMacron Maple Lodge FarmsCIBCCavalry Tommy Wheeldon Jr. Marco CarducciWestJetForge Bobby Smyrniotis Kyle BekkerTim HortonsHFX Wanderers Patrice Gheisar Andre RampersadVolkswagenPacific James Merriman Josh HeardTelusValour Phillip Dos Santos Andrew Jean-BaptisteOneSoccerVancouver Afshin Ghotbi Callum IrvingCIBCCarlsberg 0.0%York United Martin Nash Roger ThompsonCarlsberg 0.0%CIBC
Number of teams by province or territory +RankProvince or territoryNumberTeams1 Ontario3Atlético OttawaForgeYork United2 British Columbia2PacificVancouver FC3 Alberta1Cavalry Manitoba1Valour Nova Scotia1HFX Wanderers
Coaching changes TeamOutgoing coachManner of departureDate of vacancyPosition in tableIncoming coachDate of appointmentHFX Wanderers Stephen Hart End of contractOctober 13, 2022Pre-season Patrice GheisarNovember 30, 2022Vancouver FC N/A (inaugural season) Afshin GhotbiNovember 2, 2022FC Edmonton Alan Koch Team foldedNovember 21, 2022N/A
Regular season Format The regular season was played as a quadruple round-robin, with each team playing the other seven teams twice at home and twice away between April 15 and October 7. The regular season winner (the team ranked first after all 28 games) qualified for the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup and the top five teams qualified for the playoffs.
Standings
Results
U-21 minute standings In order to qualify for the playoffs, clubs were also required to accumulate at least 2,000 minutes played by U-21 domestic players during the regular season. Additionally, only 1,000 of these minutes could be played by players on loan from other clubs. Clubs that do not meet the 2,000 minute threshold may also incur financial penalties from the league.
Playoffs The 2023 season used the Page playoff system. The team who finished first in the regular-season table would play the team who finished second, and the winner would host the final. The fourth- and fifth-placed teams would play in a play-in round, and the winner of this game would then play the third-placed team in a quarter-final. The quarter-final winner would play the loser of the game between the first and second-placed teams for the other spot in the final.
Bracket
Matches Play-in round
Quarterfinal
First semifinal
Second semifinal
Final
Attendance
Statistical leaders
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals 1 Ollie Bassett Atlético Ottawa 11 Myer Bevan Cavalry 3 Terran Campbell Forge 10 Woobens Pacius Forge 5 Massimo Ferrin HFX Wanderers 8 6 Samuel Salter Atlético Ottawa 7 Ayman Sellouf Pacific 8 Molham Babouli York United 6 Gabriel Bitar Vancouver Sergio Camargo Cavalry Mikaël Cantave Cavalry / Vancouver Osaze De Rosario York United Shaan Hundal Vancouver Daniel Nimick HFX Wanderers Kévin dos Santos York United
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists 1 Ayman Sellouf Pacific 8 2 Kyle Bekker Forge 7 3 Lorenzo Callegari HFX Wanderers 6 Ali Musse Cavalry 5 Manny Aparicio Pacific 5 Aidan Daniels HFX Wanderers Jérémy Gagnon-Laparé York United Kian Williams Valour 9 Myer Bevan Cavalry 4 Gabriel Bitar Vancouver Tristan Borges Forge Jesse Daley Cavalry Carl Haworth Atlético Ottawa Wesley Timoteo HFX Wanderers
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubClean sheets 1 Triston Henry Forge 9 2 Marco Carducci Cavalry 8 3 Yann Fillion HFX Wanderers 7 Nathan Ingham Atlético Ottawa Rayane Yesli Valour
Hat-tricks Player For Against Result Date Ref. Forge York United 4–0 (A) July 9 Forge Vancouver 3–0 (A) September 3
Awards
Canadian Premier League Awards The 2023 Canadian Premier League Awards were held in Hamilton, Ontario, on October 26, 2023. AwardRecipientFinalistGolden Boot Myer Bevan (Cavalry FC) Ollie Bassett (Atlético Ottawa)N/AGolden Glove Triston Henry (Forge FC) Marco Carducci (Cavalry FC) Rayane Yesli (Valour FC)Coach of the Year Tommy Wheeldon Jr. Patrice Gheisar Bobby Smyrniotis Player of the Year Daan Klomp (Cavalry FC) Manny Aparicio (Pacific FC) Kyle Bekker (Forge FC) Lorenzo Callegari (Halifax Wanderers) Ali Musse (Cavalry FC)Best Under 21 Canadian Player of the Year Matteo De Brienne (Valour FC) James Cameron (Vancouver FC) Kwasi Poku (Forge FC)Defender of the Year Daan Klomp (Cavalry FC) Manjrekar James (Forge FC) Daniel Nimick (Halifax Wanderers)Players' Player of the Year Ali Musse (Cavalry FC) Kyle Bekker (Forge FC) Daan Klomp (Cavalry FC)
Canadian Premier League Best XI GoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwardsRef
Team of the Week The Gatorade Team of the Week was selected by the CPL's Kristian Jack and OneSoccer's Oliver Platt. Team of the WeekDatesGoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwardsRefApril 15–16 April 22–23April 29–30May 5–7May 13–14May 19–21May 27–28May 31 – June 4June 9–11 Bevan (Cavalry)June 16–18June 20–25June 30 – July 2July 7–9July 12–16July 21–23July 28–30August 4–7August 11–13 August 18–20August 25–27September 2–4September 8–9
Monthly Awards +MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthGoalkeeper of the MonthReferencesManagerClubPlayerClubGoalkeeperClubApril Bobby SmyrniotisForge FC Diego GutiérrezValour FC Callum IrvingVancouver FCMay James MerrimanPacific FC Sean YoungPacific FC Triston HenryForge FCJune Patrice GheisarHFX Wanderers FC Ayman SelloufPacific FC Rayane YesliPacific FCJuly Carlos GonzálezAtlético Ottawa Kyle BekkerForge FC Triston HenryForge FCAugust Tommy Wheeldon Jr.Cavalry FC Daniel NimickHFX Wanderers FC Nathan InghamAtlético OttawaSeptember Tommy Wheeldon Jr.Cavalry FC Daan KlompCavalry FC Marco CarducciCavalry FCOctober Bobby SmyrniotisForge FC Ali MusseCavalry FC Triston HenryForge FC
Player transfers
U Sports Draft The 2023 CPL–U Sports Draft took place on December 15, 2022. Each team made two picks in the draft for a total of 16 selections with expansion club Vancouver FC selecting first.
Foreign players
Canadian Premier League teams can sign a maximum of seven international players, out of which only five can be in the starting line-up for each match. At least 50% of a team's international players must be U-23 at all times. If a club wishes to utilize the maximum 7 slots, the 7th player must be U-21.
The following international players were signed for the 2023 season. Note that players may be considered domestic for CPL purposes (Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or refugees) while still representing other countries in international competitions.
+Club Player 1 Player 2 Player 3 Player 4 Player 5 Player 6 Player 7 Former playersAtlético Ottawa Miguel Acosta Ollie Bassett Diego Espejo Gianni dos Santos Aboubakary Sacko Alberto Zapater Rubén del CampoCavalry Daan Klomp Joe Mason Roberto Alarcón Jesse Daley Udoka Chima Tom Field José EscalanteForge Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson Malik Owolabi-Belewu Rezart Rama Béni BadibangaHFX Wanderers Andre Rampersad João Morelli Lifumpa Mwandwe Lorenzo Callegari Callum Watson Théo Collomb Kosi NwafornsoPacific Djenairo Daniels Bradley Vliet Ayman Sellouf David Brazão Kekuta MannehValour Andrew Jean-Baptiste Walter Ponce Kevin Rendón Pacifique Niyongabire Kian Williams Jaime SiajVancouver Nicky Gyimah Min-jae Kwak Ibrahim Bakare Alejandro Díaz Renan Garcia Emmanuel Robe Gael Sandoval Eugene MartínezYork United Tass Mourdoukoutas Kévin dos Santos Brem Soumaoro Lassana Faye Oussama Alou
Players in italic denote players who were new to their respective clubs for the 2023 season, sorted chronologically by their announcement. Players in Bold indicate players who have represented their national teams at the senior level.
2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup Forge FC and Cavalry FC both earned berths in the newly expanded 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup as CPL champions and regular season champions respectively. The newly expanded tournament has teams from across North America, Central America, and the Caribbean compete for a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup. Qualification for the CONCACAF Champions Cup was also available to CPL clubs if they won the Canadian Championship; however, the 2023 Canadian Championship was not won by a CPL team.
Method Qualified team CPL champion Forge FC CPL regular season winner Cavalry FC
References
Further reading