# 2019 Canadian Championship

The 2019 Canadian Championship was the twelfth edition of the Canadian Championship, contested from May 15 to September 25, 2019. Montreal Impact won their fourth Canadian Championship title (their tenth Voyageurs Cup) and earned a berth in the 2020 CONCACAF Champions League.
The competition expanded to thirteen teams with the introduction of the seven Canadian Premier League (CPL) clubs, the most in the competition's history. The 2019 tournament also marked the first time that clubs from Manitoba and Nova Scotia were represented in the Canadian Championship, and the return of clubs from Alberta after none participated in 2018.
Cavalry FC's 2–1 aggregate defeat of Vancouver Whitecaps FC in the tournament's third qualifying round marked the first time in the history of the Canadian Championship that an MLS team was defeated by a non-MLS team in a home-and-away series.
Ignacio Piatti was the tournament's top scorer with four goals and won the George Gross Memorial Trophy, while Zachary Brault-Guillard received the inaugural Best Young Canadian Player award for the best Canadian player of the tournament aged 21 or younger.

## Format

The format of the competition was changed to include the seven CPL clubs, and consisted of three qualifying rounds before semi-finals and a final. All rounds were played in a two-legged tie format. In the first qualifying round, the League1 Ontario champion Vaughan Azzurri, Première ligue de soccer du Québec champion A.S. Blainville, and four CPL clubs entered the competition. They were joined by the remaining three CPL clubs (given byes due to previously competing or being sanctioned earlier than the other clubs) in the second qualifying round. In the third qualifying round, Ottawa Fury FC and two Major League Soccer teams entered. The previous year's champion, Toronto FC, received a bye to the semi-final.

### Distribution

Distribution of teams for 2019 Canadian Championship :
| Round | Teams entering in this round | Teams advancing from previous round |
| First qualifying round (6 teams) | 1 champion of League1 Ontario 1 champion of Première ligue de soccer du Québec 4 Canadian Premier League teams | |
| Second qualifying round (6 teams) | 3 Canadian Premier League "inaugural teams" | 3 winners from the first qualifying round |
| Third qualifying round (6 teams) | 1 USL Championship team 2 Major League Soccer teams | 3 winners from the second qualifying round |
| Semi-finals (4 teams) | 1 champion of 2018 Canadian Championship | 3 winners from the third qualifying round |
| Final (2 teams) | | 2 winners from the semi-finals |

## Qualified clubs

| Club | Location | League | Previous best | Prior appearances |
| A.S. Blainville | Blainville, Quebec | Première ligue de soccer du Québec | Second qualifying round: 1 | 1 |
| Cavalry FC | Foothills County, Alberta | Canadian Premier League | N/A | debut |
| FC Edmonton | Edmonton, Alberta | Canadian Premier League | Semi-finals: 5 | 7 |
| Forge FC | Hamilton, Ontario | Canadian Premier League | N/A | debut |
| HFX Wanderers | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Canadian Premier League | N/A | debut |
| Montreal Impact | Montreal, Quebec | Major League Soccer | Champions: 3 | 11 |
| Ottawa Fury | Ottawa, Ontario | USL Championship | Semi-finals: 3 | 5 |
| Pacific FC | Langford, British Columbia | Canadian Premier League | N/A | debut |
| Toronto FC | Toronto, Ontario | Major League Soccer | Champions: 7 | 11 |
| Valour FC | Winnipeg, Manitoba | Canadian Premier League | N/A | debut |
| Vancouver Whitecaps FC | Vancouver, British Columbia | Major League Soccer | Champions: 1 | 11 |
| Vaughan Azzurri | Vaughan, Ontario | League1 Ontario | N/A | debut |
| York9 FC | Toronto, Ontario | Canadian Premier League | N/A | debut |
Note
* Statistics include previous incarnations of FC Edmonton, Montreal Impact, and Vancouver Whitecaps

## Schedule

| Round | First leg date | Second leg date | Teams entering |
| First qualifying round | May 15 | May 22 | 6 (A.S. Blainville, Cavalry FC, HFX Wanderers, Pacific FC, Vaughan Azzurri, York9 FC) |
| Second qualifying round | June 4/5 | June 11/12 | 3 (FC Edmonton, Forge FC, Valour FC) |
| Third qualifying round | July 10 | July 24 | 3 (Montreal Impact, Ottawa Fury, Vancouver Whitecaps FC) |
| Semi-finals | August 7 | August 14 | 1 (Toronto FC) |
| Final | September 18 | September 25 | — |

## Bracket

The draw was held on February 12, 2019.
| First qualifying round May 15 & 22 | First qualifying round May 15 & 22 | First qualifying round May 15 & 22 | First qualifying round May 15 & 22 | Second qualifying round June 4–5 & 11–12 | Second qualifying round June 4–5 & 11–12 | Second qualifying round June 4–5 & 11–12 | Second qualifying round June 4–5 & 11–12 | Third qualifying round July 10 & 24 | Third qualifying round July 10 & 24 | Third qualifying round July 10 & 24 | Third qualifying round July 10 & 24 | Semi-finals August 7 & 14 | Semi-finals August 7 & 14 | Semi-finals August 7 & 14 | Semi-finals August 7 & 14 | Final September 18 & 25 | Final September 18 & 25 | Final September 18 & 25 | Final September 18 & 25 |
| | | | | | | | | Montreal Impact | 2 | 1 | 3 | | | | | |
| | | | | FC Edmonton | 1 | 1 | 2 | York9 | 2 | 0 | 2 | | | | | | | | |
| A.S. Blainville | 0 | 0 | 0 | York9 | 3 | 0 | 3 | | | | | Montreal Impact | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| York9 | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | | Cavalry FC | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| | | | | | | | | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 0 | 1 | 1 | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | Forge FC | 1 | 1 | 2 | Cavalry FC | 0 | 2 | 2 | | | | | Montreal Impact (p) | 1 | 0 | 1 (3) |
| Pacific FC | 0 | 1 | 1 | Cavalry FC | 1 | 2 | 3 | | | | | | | | | Toronto FC | 0 | 1 | 1 (1) |
| Cavalry FC | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| | | | | | | | | | | | | Ottawa Fury | | | 0 | | | 0 | 0 |
| | | | | | | | | Ottawa Fury | 3 | 2 | 5 | Toronto FC | 2 | 3 | 5 | | | | |
| | | | | Valour FC | 1 | 0 | 1 | HFX Wanderers | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | |
| Vaughan Azzurri | 2 | 1 | 3 | HFX Wanderers | 2 | 2 | 4 | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| HFX Wanderers (a) | 3 | 0 | 3 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
* view
* talk

## First qualifying round
### Summary

The first legs were held on May 15, and the second legs on May 22, 2019.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Vaughan Azzurri | 3–3 (a) | HFX Wanderers | 2–3 | 1–0 |
| Pacific FC | 1–4 | Cavalry FC | 0–2 | 1–2 |
| A.S. Blainville | 0–1 | York9 FC | 0–0 | 0–1 |
Notes
* ↑ Order of legs reversed after original draw.

### Matches

3–3 on aggregate. HFX Wanderers won on away goals.
Cavalry FC won 4–1 on aggregate.
York9 won 1–0 on aggregate.

## Second qualifying round
### Summary

The first legs were held on June 4 and 5, and the second legs were held on June 11 and 12, 2019.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| York9 FC | 3–2 | FC Edmonton | 3–1 | 0–1 |
| Forge FC | 2–3 | Cavalry FC | 1–1 | 1–2 |
| HFX Wanderers | 4–1 | Valour FC | 2–1 | 2–0 |
Notes
* ↑ Order of legs reversed after original draw.

### Matches

York9 FC won 3–2 on aggregate.
Cavalry FC won 3–2 on aggregate.
HFX Wanderers won 4–1 on aggregate.

## Third qualifying round
### Summary

The first legs were held on July 10, and the second legs were held on July 24, 2019.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| HFX Wanderers | 4–5 | Ottawa Fury | 2–3 | 2–2 |
| York9 FC | 2–3 | Montreal Impact | 2–2 | 0–1 |
| Cavalry FC | 2–1 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 0–0 | 2–1 |

### Matches

Ottawa Fury won 5–4 on aggregate.
Montreal Impact won 3–2 on aggregate.
Cavalry FC won 2–1 on aggregate.

## Semi-finals
### Summary

The first legs were held on August 7, and the second legs were held on August 14, 2019.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Ottawa Fury | 0–5 | Toronto FC | 0–2 | 0–3 |
| Montreal Impact | 3–1 | Cavalry FC | 2–1 | 1–0 |
Notes
* ↑ Order of legs reversed after original draw.

### Matches

Toronto FC won 5–0 on aggregate.
Montreal Impact won 3–1 on aggregate.

## Final
### Summary

The first leg was held on September 18, and the second leg was held on September 25, 2019.The higher-seeded team in the final, Toronto FC, chose to play the first leg away.
| Team 1 | Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
| Montreal Impact | 1–1 (3–1 p) | Toronto FC | 1–0 | 0–1 |

### Matches

1–1 on aggregate. Montreal Impact won 3–1 on penalties.

## Goalscorers

| Rank | Player | Team | Goals | By round | By round | By round | By round | By round | By round | By round | By round | By round | By round |
| Rank | Player | Team | Goals | 1Q1 | 1Q2 | 2Q1 | 2Q2 | 3Q1 | 3Q2 | SF1 | SF2 | F1 | F2 |
| 1 | Ignacio Piatti | Montreal Impact | 4 | | | | | | 1 | 2 | | 1 | |
| 2 | Mohamed Kourouma | HFX Wanderers | 3 | 1 | | 1 | 1 | | | | | | |
| 2 | Tomasz Skublak | HFX Wanderers | 3 | 1 | | 1 | | | 1 | | | | |
| 4 | Sergio Camargo | Cavalry FC | 2 | | | | 1 | | | 1 | | | |
| 4 | Thiago De Freitas | Ottawa Fury | 2 | | | | | 2 | | | | | |
| 4 | Nick DeLeon | Toronto FC | 2 | | | | | | | | 2 | | |
| 4 | Tsubasa Endoh | Toronto FC | 2 | | | | | | | 1 | | | 1 |
| 4 | Rodrigo Gattas | York9 | 2 | | | 1 | | 1 | | | | | |
| 4 | Dominique Malonga | Cavalry FC | 2 | | | 1 | 1 | | | | | | |
| 4 | Luis Perea | HFX Wanderers | 2 | | | | | 1 | 1 | | | | |
| 4 | Ryan Telfer | York9 | 2 | | 1 | | | 1 | | | | | |
| 4 | Dominick Zator | Cavalry FC | 2 | 1 | | | | | 1 | | | | |