The 2024 Canadian Premier League season was the sixth season of the Canadian Premier League, the top men's professional level of the Canadian Soccer Association's league system. Forge FC were the defending champions, having beaten Cavalry FC, the CPL Shield winners, in the 2023 final.
Forge won the CPL Shield as regular season champions, their second CPL shield and sixth league trophy. In the 2024 CPL final, Cavalry won their first league title by defeating Forge 2–1 to claim the North Star Cup, their third league trophy.
Team and rule changes The same eight teams that competed in the 2023 season also competed in the 2024 season. The CPL's total player compensation budget was increased by $87,500 to a total of $1,112,500 (or $1,212,500 for teams maximizing the U21 salary incentive).
York United was bought by a new ownership group from Mexico, Game Plan Sports Group.
Teams
ClubResultsLocationStadiumCapacityAtlético OttawadetailsOttawa, OntarioTD Place Stadium24,000Cavalry FCdetailsFoothills County, AlbertaATCO Field6,000Forge FCdetailsHamilton, OntarioTim Hortons Field23,218HFX Wanderers FCdetailsHalifax, Nova ScotiaWanderers Grounds6,500Pacific FCdetailsLangford, British ColumbiaStarlight Stadium6,000Valour FCdetailsWinnipeg, ManitobaPrincess Auto Stadium32,343Vancouver FCdetailsLangley, British ColumbiaWilloughby Community Park6,560York United FCdetailsToronto, OntarioYork Lions Stadium4,000
Personnel and sponsorship +TeamHead coachCaptainKit manufacturerShirt sponsor (chest)Shirt sponsor (sleeve)Atlético Ottawa Carlos González Maxim TissotMacron 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 Raphael OhinOneSoccerVancouver Afshin Ghotbi Callum IrvingCIBCCarlsberg 0.0%York United Benjamín Mora Mo BabouliCarlsberg 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 appointmentYork United Martin Nash FiredMay 21, 20245th Benjamín MoraJune 4, 2024
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 and October. The regular season winner (the team ranked first after all 28 games) qualified for the 2025 CONCACAF Champions Cup and the top five teams qualified for the playoffs; the top two got byes to the semifinals.
Standings
Results
Positions by matchweek
Playoffs The 2024 season used the Page playoff system. The team who finished first in the regular-season table played the team who finished second, with the winner hosting the final. The fourth- and fifth-placed teams played in a play-in round, and the winner then played the third-placed team in a quarterfinal. The quarterfinal winner then played the loser of the game between the first and second-placed teams for the other spot in the final.
In playoffs, if the scores were equal when normal playing time expires, extra time would be played for two periods of 15 minutes each. This would then be followed, if required, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners.
Forge FC and Atlético Ottawa were the first teams to qualify for the playoffs, doing so on September21 and 22 respectively. After some initial confusion over Cavalry FC's qualification status and a "review of the league's playoff clinch scenarios," Cavalry officially qualified on September28. York United FC became the fourth qualifier on October1. With two matchweeks left in the season, all remaining teams were still able to qualify for the fifth playoff spot. This changed on October 12 when HFX Wanderers FC became the first team eliminated from playoff contention following a loss in the club's penultimate match. Pacific FC clinched the fifth and final playoff spot on the final day of the season.
On October6, Forge clinched the CPL regular season title, winning the CPL Shield and securing the top playoff seed.
Bracket
Matches Play-in round
Quarterfinal
First semifinal
Second semifinal
Final
Statistical leaders
Top scorers RankPlayerClubGoals 1 Tobias Warschewski Cavalry 14 2 Rubén del Campo Atlético Ottawa 12 3 Alejandro Díaz Vancouver 10 4 Brian Wright York United 9 5 Tristan Borges Forge 8 Moses Dyer Vancouver / Pacific Daniel Nimick HFX Wanderers Kwasi Poku Forge 9 Mo Babouli York United 7 Shaan Hundal Valour Jordan Swibel Valour
Top assists RankPlayerClubAssists 1 Themi Antonoglou Valour 7 Kyle Bekker Forge 3 Tristan Borges Forge 6 Dani Morer Atlético Ottawa Brian Wright York United 6 David Choinière Forge 5 Jordan Faria Valour Jorge Guzmán York United 9 Fraser Aird Cavalry 4 Ollie Bassett Atlético Ottawa Clément Bayiha York United / HFX Wanderers Sergio Camargo Cavalry Paris Gee Vancouver Ali Musse Cavalry Ballou Tabla Atlético Ottawa
Clean sheets RankPlayerClubClean sheets 1 Marco Carducci Cavalry 9 2 Jassem Koleilat Forge 8 3 Emil Gazdov Pacific 7 Nathan Ingham Atlético Ottawa Thomas Vincensini York United
Attendance
Awards
Canadian Premier League Awards The 2024 Canadian Premier League Awards were held in Calgary, Alberta, on November 7, 2024. AwardRecipientFinalistsRef.Golden Boot Tobias Warschewski (Cavalry FC)N/AGolden Glove Emil Gazdov (Pacific FC) Callum Irving (Vancouver FC) Thomas Vincensini (York United FC)Coach of the Year Bobby Smyrniotis (Forge FC) Benjamín Mora (York United FC) Tommy Wheeldon Jr. (Cavalry FC)Player of the Year Tristan Borges (Forge FC) Kyle Bekker (Forge FC) Alessandro Hojabrpour (Forge FC) Tobias Warschewski (Cavalry FC) Brian Wright (York United FC)Best Under 21 Canadian Player of the Year Kwasi Poku (Forge FC) Emil Gazdov (Pacific FC) Noah Abatneh (York United FC)Defender of the Year Daan Klomp (Cavalry FC) Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson (Forge FC) Themi Antonoglou (Valour FC)Players' Player of the Year Brian Wright (York United FC)N/A
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 WeekWeekGoalkeeperDefendersMidfieldersForwardsRef1 2345678910111213141516171819202122232425262728
Monthly Awards +MonthManager of the MonthPlayer of the MonthGoalkeeper of the MonthReferencesManagerClubPlayerClubGoalkeeperClubApril Bobby SmyrniotisForge FC Tristan BorgesForge FC Christopher KalongoForge FCMay Carlos GonzálezAtlético Ottawa Rubén del CampoAtlético Ottawa Callum IrvingVancouver FCJune Patrice GheisarHFX Wanderers FC Kwasi PokuForge FC Thomas VincensiniYork United FCJuly Benjamín MoraYork United FC Mo BabouliYork United FC Marco CarducciCavalry FCAugust Tommy Wheeldon Jr.Cavalry FC Daan KlompCavalry FC Thomas VincensiniYork United FCSeptember Bobby SmyrniotisForge FC Moses DyerPacific FC Jonathan ViscosiValour FCOctober Tommy Wheeldon Jr.Cavalry FC Tobias WarschewskiCavalry FC Nathan InghamAtlético Ottawa
Player transfers
According to FIFA's worldwide registration periods calendar, the Canadian Soccer Association's (CSA's) 2024 pre-season transfer window opened on January 31 and closed on April 23; the mid-season transfer window would open on July 18 and close on August 14. However, the CPL later announced that its mid-season transfer window would instead open on July 5 and close on August 2, contradicting FIFA's published dates. This discrepancy was resolved on July 11 when the CSA announced that the mid-season transfer window would open on July 12 and close on August 8 as a compromise between the CPL's and Major League Soccer's interests.
CPL clubs were required to be fully roster compliant by April 1 at 5:00 pm ET; rosters were frozen on September 13 at 4:00 pm ET.
U Sports Draft The 2024 CPL–U Sports Draft took place on December 14, 2023. Each team made two picks in the draft, for a total of 16 selections.
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.
The following international players were signed for the 2024 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 Inactive players Former playersAtlético Ottawa Ollie Bassett Alberto Zapater Rubén del Campo Liberman Torres Kévin dos Santos Dani Morer Jesús del Amo Aboubakary SackoCavalry Daan Klomp Jesse Daley Tom Field Tobias Warschewski Nicolas Wähling Jack Barrett Lleyton BrooksForge Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson Malik Owolabi-Belewu Béni Badibanga Elimane Cissé Nana Opoku Ampomah Daniel Parra Victor KlonaridisHFX Wanderers Andre Rampersad Lorenzo Callegari Vitor Dias Giorgio Probo Christian VoleskyPacific Reon Moore Andrei Tîrcoveanu Juan Quintana Kevin Ceceri Moses Dyer Aly Ndom Ayman SelloufValour Roberto Alarcón Tass Mourdoukoutas Jordan Swibel Charalampos Chantzopoulos Diogo Ressurreição Kian WilliamsVancouver Alejandro Díaz Renan Garcia José Navarro Allan Enyou Olivier Rommens Ayman Sellouf Moses DyerYork United Dennis Salanović Oswaldo León Orlando Botello Josué Martínez Thomas Vincensini Jorge Guzmán Santiago Márquez Brem Soumaoro
Players in italic denote players who were new to their respective clubs for the 2024 season, sorted chronologically by their announcement. Players in Bold indicate players who have represented their national teams at the senior level.
Notes
References