The Canadian Premier League concluded its eighth regular season by going down to the wire last week.
Calgary-based Cavalry FC edged out Forge FC of Hamilton, Ont., for first place in the final league standings on the last day of the campaign, while expansion club FC Supra du Québec leapfrogged Vancouver FC to clinch a post-season berth
Now the real fun begins with the playoffs, which kick off this weekend.
Here’s what you need to know:
The playoff format
After using a “page playoff” system last year, the CPL has reverted to a more traditional format for the 2026 post-season.
Cavalry FC won this year’s CPL Shield (best record during the regular season), topping the league table with 60 points, just ahead of Forge FC (58 points). Defending CPL champions Atlético Ottawa (43 points) finished third, while expansion club FC Supra du Québec (38 points) edged out Vancouver FC for the fourth and final playoff berth.
Cavalry now plays Supra in a two-legged home-and-home series, while the other semifinal pits Forge against Atlético. The winners advance to a one-game final that will be hosted by the higher seed.
All four teams are vying to hoist the North Star Cup, which goes to the last team standing at the end of the playoffs.
The playoff schedule
• Semifinal leg No. 1: Forge FC at Atlético Ottawa — Nov. 1, 2 p.m. ET
• Semifinal leg No. 1: Cavalry FC at FC Supra du Québec — Nov. 1, 4 p.m. ET
• Semifinal leg No. 2: Atlético Ottawa at Forge FC — Nov. 7, 1 p.m. ET
• Semifinal leg No. 2: FC Supra du Québec at Cavalry FC — Nov. 7, 4 p.m. ET
• CPL Final: Nov. 21, 3 p.m. ET
Can Atlético Ottawa repeat as CPL champions?
The last three CPL seasons have produced three different champions and only Forge FC has ever won back-to-back championships, doing so twice. Atlético Ottawa is vying to become the second CPL outfit to repeat after beating Cavalry FC in last year’s memorable “Snow Bowl” in the nation’s capital.
Ottawa lost several key players in the off-season, including forward Sam Salter, last year’s Golden Boot winner and league MVP. But the capital club managed to finish third in the table this season thanks in large part to veteran midfielder Manny Aparicio and an influx of new talent including forward Nicolas Fleuriau Chateau, who had seven goals and three assists in 14 games after joining Ottawa in July.
Player to watch: Ballou Tabla
The veteran Canadian winger is coming off a career-best regular season for Ottawa with 11 goals and two assists in 28 appearances.
Cavalry FC looking to do 'the double'
You don’t have to look any further than Cavalry FC to find out who’ll be entering the playoffs as the team to beat after it became the first club to eclipse the 60-point mark since the league's inaugural 2019 season. Cavalry finished atop the overall standings for the third time thanks to the league’s best attack (58 goals scored, a CPL record) and the second-best defence (23 goals conceded).
Cavalry went winless in its last three games (two losses) of the regular season, but long-time coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr (a two-time CPL coach of the year) always manages to get the best out of his club come playoff time. Crucially, they’ll have home-field advantage in the second leg against FC Supra and will host the CPL Final if they advance. Cavalry established a single-season record for home points with 36 by going undefeated at ATCO Field.
Player to watch: Tobias Warschewski
The German forward had another MVP-calibre campaign with Cavalry by recording a league-high 10 assists while also scoring 11 goals.
Forge FC striving to get back on top
Forge FC set the standard in the CPL in the early days, winning back-to-back titles in the league’s first two years in 2019 and 2020, and repeating as champions again in 2022 and 2023. The Steeltown club reached the final in each of the league’s first six seasons, with the streak ending last year.
Forge responded by becoming the first CPL team to win the Canadian Championship when it upset CF Montreal of MLS in last week’s final at Stade Saputo. Now, coach Bobby Smyrniotis’s side is eager to climb back atop the mountain and become the first team to win a CPL title and a Canadian championship in the same year.
Player to watch: Dimitry Bertaud
The Congolese goalkeeper’s debut CPL season was a successful one as he finished second in the league in clean sheets with 10 for Forge.
FC Supra du Québec has momentum going into the playoffs
Setting aside the CPL’s inaugural season when all seven teams were starting from scratch, no expansion franchise has ever won the league title — both Atlético Ottawa (2020) and Vancouver FC (2025) failed to make the playoffs in their debut campaigns.
FC Supra du Québec could buck the trend and win it all in its first year based on its late-season push. The Montreal-based outfit was eight points out of a playoff berth in early October, but it went unbeaten in its last five matches of the season (with four wins) to overtake Vancouver for fourth place and the final playoff berth.
Player to watch: Loïc Kwemi
The 29-year-old forward finished as the top scorer during the regular season (his first in the CPL) by netting 15 goals in 26 games to win the Golden Boot.
Editor’s note
John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 27 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer.