The 2025 CPL–U Sports Draft was the seventh annual CPL–U Sports Draft. Canadian Premier League (CPL) teams selected 16 eligible U Sports soccer players to be invited to their respective preseason camps with the opportunity to earn development contracts for the 2025 Canadian Premier League season.
Format Players could be selected if they had one to four years of U Sports eligibility remaining, were in good academic standing, were planning to return to school the following year, and completed the CPL's draft declaration form. Players who were selected can sign a full professional contract or a U Sports development contract, which allows them to return to university for the following season, without losing their eligibility.
Players interested in being selected were required to declare for the draft by November21 at . On November29, the CPL released the full list of 184 players available for selection in the draft.
Each CPL team made two selections in the draft with selections made in the reverse order of the previous season's standings, including playoffs and final standings.
Broadcasting On November28, the CPL confirmed the draft order and announced that the draft would be broadcast on CBC Gem, cbcsports.ca, OneSoccer, and YouTube on December5, 2024 at .
Player selection * Denotes player who has signed a professional contract for the 2025 season ^ Denotes player who has signed a developmental contract for the 2025 season
The following players were selected:
Round 1 Pick # CPL team Player Position Nationality University Last team/academy 1 Valour FC Jevontae LayneFW Toronto Metropolitan UniversitySimcoe County Rovers (L1O) 2 Vancouver FC Henri GodboutFW University of British ColumbiaAltitude FC (L1BC) 3 HFX Wanderers FC Matthew PaivaDF McMaster UniversityScrosoppi FC (L1O) 4 Pacific FC Niklas HallamFW University of Toronto 5 York United FC Luca AccettolaMF York UniversityToronto FC II (MLSNP) 6 Atlético Ottawa Jason HartillMF Cape Breton UniversityYork United (CPL) 7 Forge FC Paul EkwuemeMF McMaster UniversityAlliance United (L1O) 8 Cavalry FC Harvey HughesFW Cape Breton University
Round 2 Pick # CPL team Player Position Nationality University Last team/academy 9 Valour FC Ibrahim Chami DF McGill University AS Blainville (L1Q) 10 Vancouver FC Mehdi Essoussi MF University of Toronto Alliance United (L1O) 11 HFX Wanderers FC Joven Mann MF University of British Columbia Burnaby FC (L1BC) 12 Pacific FC Fin Tugwell DF University of Victoria 13 York United FC Matthew Fischer FW York University 14 Atlético Ottawa Adam N’Goran DF Carleton University Ottawa South United (L1Q) 15 Forge FC Maxime Filion FW Université de Montréal Ottawa South United (L1Q) 16 Cavalry FC Owen Antoniuk FW University of Calgary Calgary Foothills FC (L1A)
Selection statistics
Draftees by nationality RankCountrySelections 1 13 2 1
References