Canada Soccer has confirmed the format and draw date for this year’s National Championships that will be hosted in the Ottawa for the first time ever from 8-12 October 2026. The five-day competition will feature 18 amateur teams with an even field of nine men’s teams playing for the Challenge Trophy and nine women’s teams playing for the Jubilee Trophy. Both Canadian Finals will be played on Thanksgiving Monday 12 October.
Each division will feature three groups of three teams with group matches played from 8-10 October. Groups will be determined through a Draw conducted by Canada Soccer on Tuesday 12 May. Teams that win their group in October will win a National Championships medal: the best group winner (via tie-breaking criteria) will advance to the Monday Canadian Final while the second- and third-best group winners will face each other in a Sunday playoff match for the right to play on Thanksgiving Monday.
Based on last year’s final ranking in each division of the National Championships, the top-four provinces will be pre-seeded across three groups (A1, B1, C1 and C2). All other provinces will be drawn into their groups for positions B2, A2, A3, B3 and C3. In the men’s division, last year’s top-four provinces were Newfoundland & Labrador (A1), Ontario (B1), Québec (C1) and Manitoba (C2). In the women’s division, last year’s top-four provinces were Newfoundland & Labrador (A1), Québec (B1), British Columbia (C1) and Ontario (C2).
As hosts, Ottawa Gloucester SC will have a spot in both the men’s and women’s divisions (the Ontario Cup provincial competition will determine if they are “ON” or “ON-2”). Additionally, Soccer NB was approved for their return in the men’s competition while Soccer Nova Scotia was approved for their return in the women’s competition. As a constraint to Tuesday’s draw, no group to the National Championships will feature two teams from the same province.
Canada Soccer’s National Championships are hosted each October across multiple divisions and venues, with the 2026 U-17 Cup hosted in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador and the U-15 Cup hosted in Surrey, British Columbia. The format and groups for both Youth National Championships were previously confirmed in April.
As Canada’s most accessible sport, soccer welcomes more than 750,000 registered players across the nation. This past year alone, 580 youth teams took part in qualifying for the National Championships in the U-17 and U-15 age groups for both boys and girls. As Canada Soccer’s largest national event featuring clubs from coast to coast to coast, the National Championships provide a meaningful week-long soccer experience for host cities and participating teams, as well as the players, coaches, support staff, officials, and volunteers.
Men’s Challenge Trophy competition / compétition masculine pour le Trophée Challenge
Four teams already seeded / quatre équipes déjà classes
Group / Groupe A – NL
Group / Groupe B – ON
Group / Groupe C – QC, MB
Five teams will be drawn into groups A-C, although teams from the same province will not be drawn into the same group (ie, ON2 can not be drawn into Group B) / cinq équipes seront réparties dans les groupes A à C, bien que les équipes d’une même province ne puissent pas être placées dans le même groupe (par exemple, ON2 ne peut pas être placée dans le groupe B)
Draw Pot #1 / pot de tirage numéro 1 – BC, AB, ON-2, NB, NS
Women’s Jubilee Trophy competition / compétition féminine pour le Trophée Jubilee
Four teams already seeded / quatre équipes déjà classes
Group / Groupe A – NL
Group / Groupe B – QC
Group / Groupe C – BC, ON
Five teams will be drawn into groups A-C, although teams from the same province will not be drawn into the same group (NL-2 can not be drawn into Group A; ON2 can not be drawn into Group C; AB and AB-2 must be drawn into different groups) / cinq équipes seront réparties dans les groupes A à C, bien que les équipes d’une même province ne puissent pas être placées dans le même groupe (NL-2 ne peut pas être tiré au sort dans le groupe A ; ON2 ne peut pas être tiré au sort dans le groupe C ; AB et AB-2 doivent être tirés au sort dans des groupes différents)
Draw Pot #2 / pot de tirage numéro 2 – AB, ON2, NS, AB2, NL2
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