The winner of the 2022 Canadian Championship, Vancouver Whitecaps FC, and runner-up Toronto FC, will both receive byes to the second round. The remaining 12 teams will begin the competition from the first round in April.[1] Qualification to the Canadian Championship for 2023 will be automatic for Canadian teams within Major League Soccer and for all teams within the Canadian Premier League, Canada's tier-one national league. The 2022 champions from the three regional pro-am leagues of League1 Canada (League1 Ontario, PLSQ, and League1 British Columbia) also qualified.[2]
The 2023 Canadian Championship will determine a place in the continental 2024 CONCACAF Champions League tournament.[3][4] If the winner has already qualified for the Champions League via berths in the 2023 Major League Soccer, 2023 Leagues Cup or 2023 Canadian Premier League, the place will go to the runners-up in the final, and then to the "higher-ranked" semi-finalist based on as-of-yet unspecified criteria, if the runners-up have also already qualified.[4]
Ties in the 2023 tournament will be played as a single 90-minute match with additional time, replacing the previous two-legged tie match format used since the 2011 edition. If a match ends in a draw, no extra time will be played, and the match will go straight to a penalty shootout to decide the winner.[5] Each team competing in the tournament may select up to 30 players to their tournament roster. If a player already nominated to a team's tournament roster is transferred to a competing team during the tournament, they are disqualified from further play in the tournament.[5] For each match, teams can select up to 18 players for a match roster, while their starting lineup must include at least 3 Canadian players. Both teams can make up to 5 substitutions and 2 concussion substitutions throughout the match at up to 3 stoppages of play, excluding half-time.[5]
Draw
On January 17, 2023, Canada Soccer announced that the draw for the championship would be held on January 31 at 8:00 pm ET. The draw details and pots were announced on January 24.[1] Prior to the commencement of the draw, one club from Pot B2 was moved into Pot A1, and both clubs from Pot C were moved to Pot B2, resulting in an even distribution of three teams in each of the first round pots.[6][7]
^Becherano, Lizzy (June 3, 2022). "Concacaf reveals new format for Champions League starting in 2024". 90min. Archived from the original on June 3, 2022. Retrieved January 24, 2023. Canadian teams will only be assured three places, with the champions, regular-season winner and Canadian Championship winner slated for the competition.
