# Canadian Premier League playoffs

The Canadian Premier League playoffs (French: les éliminatoires de la Première Ligue canadienne) is the postseason phase of the Canadian Premier League to determine that year's league champion. It was first contested as a multi-round elimination tournament in the 2021 season, to replace previous methods of determining the participants of the Canadian Premier League Finals, which used an Apertura and Clausura format in 2019, and an additional group stage in 2020. The winner of the playoffs is awarded the North Star Cup trophy, and receives the second Canadian berth into the next season's CONCACAF Champions Cup.

## Format
### Current format

The current format of the CPL playoffs utilizes a Page playoff system, where five of the league's eight teams have an opportunity to claim the league championship. The system was brought in for the 2023 Canadian Premier League season to replace the conventional Shaughnessy playoff system used in 2021 and 2022. The Canadian Premier League chose to use the Page playoff system as it puts more emphasis on regular season performances.
| Play-in round | Play-in round | First semifinal | First semifinal | First semifinal | Second semifinal | Final |
| | | 1 | First-place team | | | First semifinal winner |
| | | 2 | Second-place team | | | Second semifinal winner |
| | | | | | First semifinal loser | |
| | | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal | Quarterfinal winner | |
| | | 3 | Third-place team | | | |
| 4 | Fourth-place team | | Play-in round winner | | | |
| 5 | Fifth-place team | | | | | |

### Past formats
#### Summary

| Season | League teams | Playoff teams | % of teams | Rounds | Matches | Format |
| 2019 | 7 | 2 | 28.6% | 1 | 2 | Final played as a two legged series. |
| 2020 | 8 | 2 | 25% | 1 | 1 | Final played as single match. |
| 2021 | 8 | 4 | 50% | 2 | 3 | Single match for all rounds. |
| 2022 | 8 | 4 | 50% | 2 | 5 | Two legged semi-finals, final played as single match. |
| 2023 | 8 | 5 | 62.5% | 4 | 5 | Page playoff system, all matches single legged. |
| 2024 | 8 | 5 | 62.5% | 4 | 5 | Page playoff system, all matches single legged. |
* ↑ Originally planned to be a 3 team playoff until season was inturrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic

#### 2019

The 2019 finals were contested between the winners of the spring and fall seasons. The championship was contested as a two-legged tie, with each team hosting one leg at home. The winner was determined by aggregate score but if the aggregate score was tied, the team with the most away goals wins the series. A penalty shoot-out was the final tiebreaker.

#### 2020

The 2020 season saw the end of the split season format, with the 2020 finals scheduled to be contested between the top-seeded regular season team and the winner of a playoff between the second and third-placed teams. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the season format was scrapped and replaced with a single-site tournament with a two-stage regular season. The 2020 final was contested in a single match between the two top-seeded teams from the four-team second stage.

#### 2021–2022

The 2021 season brought in a new four-team single leg knockout playoff with the two first round winners advancing to the final. The higher-seeded finalist hosts the single leg game. If a match is tied at the end of normal playing time, extra time is played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and, if necessary, followed by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners.
Prior to the start of the 2022 season, the league announced that playoff semi-finals would switch to a two-legged format but that the final would continue to be played as a single match hosted by the higher-seeded team.
| Semi-finals (hosted by top seed) | Semi-finals (hosted by top seed) | Final (hosted by top seed) | Final (hosted by top seed) |
| 1 | First-place team | | |
| 4 | Fourth-place team | | |
| 4 | Fourth-place team | Winner semi-final one | Winner semi-final one |
| | | Winner semi-final two | Winner semi-final two |
| 2 | Second-place team | Winner semi-final two | Winner semi-final two |
| 3 | Third-place team | | |
| Semi-finals (2nd leg hosted by top seed) | Semi-finals (2nd leg hosted by top seed) | Final (hosted by top seed) | Final (hosted by top seed) |
| 1 | First-place team | | |
| 4 | Fourth-place team | | |
| 4 | Fourth-place team | Winner semi-final one | Winner semi-final one |
| | | Winner semi-final two | Winner semi-final two |
| 2 | Second-place team | Winner semi-final two | Winner semi-final two |
| 3 | Third-place team | | |

## Results
### Results by team

Appearances as of the 2024 season, match results as of 2024 season
| Team | App. | Series | Series | Series | Match statistics | Match statistics | Match statistics | Match statistics | Best result |
| Team | App. | Pld | W | L | Pld | W | D | L | Best result |
| Forge FC | 6 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 13 | 9 | 1 | 3 | Champions (4) |
| Cavalry FC | 5 | 8 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | Champions (1) |
| Pacific FC | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 3 | Champions (1) |
| Atlético Ottawa | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | Runners-up (1) |
| HFX Wanderers FC | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | Runners-up (1) |
| York United FC | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Semi-finals (1) |
| Valour FC | 0 | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | N/A |
| Vancouver FC | 0 | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | Active team has never qualified for playoffs | N/A |
| FC Edmonton | 0 | Defunct team has never qualified for playoffs | Defunct team has never qualified for playoffs | Defunct team has never qualified for playoffs | Defunct team has never qualified for playoffs | Defunct team has never qualified for playoffs | Defunct team has never qualified for playoffs | Defunct team has never qualified for playoffs | N/A |

### Year-by-year

Legend :
| § | Won CPL Shield |
| Season | Champion | Runner-up | Semi-finalist(s) | Top scorer | Top scorer |
| 2019 Details | Forge FC | Cavalry FC $^§$ | N/A | Tristan Borges David Choinière | 1 |
| 2020 Details | Forge FC | HFX Wanderers FC | N/A | Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson Maxim Tissot | 1 |
| 2021 Details | Pacific FC | Forge FC $^§$ | Cavalry FC York United FC | 7 players tied | 1 |
| 2022 Details | Forge FC | Atlético Ottawa $^§$ | Cavalry FC Pacific FC | Woobens Pacius David Choinière | 2 |
| 2023 Details | Forge FC | Cavalry FC $^§$ | Pacific FC | Ali Musse | 2 |
| 2024 Details | Cavalry FC | Forge FC $^§$ | Atlético Ottawa | Molham Babouli Tobias Warschewski | 2 |

## Records and statistics
### Active streaks
#### Playoff appearances

Updated through 2024 Canadian Premier League season. This list includes the five clubs that made the post-season in 2024. For the purposes of this section, the four-team group stage in 2020 is considered to be part of the post-season.
| Club | Last miss of post-season | Length of streak |
| Cavalry FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 6 seasons |
| Forge FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 6 seasons |
| Pacific FC | 2019 | 5 seasons |
| York United FC | 2022 | 2 season |
| Atlético Ottawa | 2023 | 1 season |

#### Finals appearances

Updated through 2024 Canadian Premier League final. This list includes the two finalist clubs from 2024.
| Club | Last miss of finals | Length of streak |
| Forge FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 6 seasons |
| Cavalry FC | 2022 | 2 seasons |

### Active droughts

† – team is no longer playing in the Canadian Premier League.

#### Playoff appearances

Updated through 2024 Canadian Premier League season. This list does not include clubs that made the post-season in that year. For the purposes of this section, the four-team group stage in 2020 is considered to be part of the post-season.
| Club | Last appearance in post-season | Length of drought |
| Valour FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 6 seasons |
| FC Edmonton † | never (club joined in 2019, folded after 2022) | 4 seasons |
| Vancouver FC | never (club joined in 2023) | 2 season |
| HFX Wanderers FC | 2023 | 1 season |

#### Finals appearances

Updated through 2024 Canadian Premier League final. This list does not include the clubs that qualified in that year.
| Club | Last appearance in finals | Length of drought |
| Valour FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 6 seasons |
| York United FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 6 seasons |
| FC Edmonton † | never (club joined in 2019, folded after 2022) | 4 seasons |
| HFX Wanderers FC | 2020 | 4 seasons |
| Pacific FC | 2021 | 3 seasons |
| Atlético Ottawa | 2022 | 2 seasons |
| Vancouver FC | never (club joined in 2023) | 2 seasons |

#### Championships

Updated through 2024 Canadian Premier League final. This list does not include the club that won the championship in that year.
| Club | Last championship | Length of drought |
| HFX Wanderers FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 6 seasons |
| Valour FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 6 seasons |
| York United FC | never (club joined in 2019) | 6 seasons |
| Atlético Ottawa | never (club joined in 2020) | 5 seasons |
| FC Edmonton † | never (club joined in 2019, folded after 2022) | 4 seasons |
| Pacific FC | 2021 | 3 seasons |
| Vancouver FC | never (club joined in 2023) | 2 seasons |
| Forge FC | 2023 | 1 season |

### Goalscorers

    As of October 28, 2023
| Rank | Player | Club(s) | Goals |
| 1 | Tristan Borges | Forge FC | 3 |
| 1 | David Choinière | Forge FC | 3 |
| 1 | Alessandro Hojabrpour | Pacific FC, Forge FC | 3 |
| 1 | Woobens Pacius | Forge FC | 3 |
| 2 | Daan Klomp | Cavalry FC | 2 |
| 2 | Ali Musse | Cavalry FC | 2 |
| 3 | Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson | Forge FC | 1 |
| 3 | Béni Badibanga | Forge FC | 1 |
| 3 | Kyle Bekker | Forge FC | 1 |
| 3 | Myer Bevan | Cavalry FC | 1 |
| 3 | Terran Campbell | Pacific FC, Forge FC | 1 |
| 3 | Kekuta Manneh | Pacific FC | 1 |
| 3 | Joe Mason | Cavalry FC | 1 |
| 3 | Thomas Meilleur-Giguère | Pacific FC | 1 |
| 3 | Joshua Navarro | Forge FC | 1 |
| 3 | Michael Petrasso | York United FC | 1 |
| 3 | Adonijah Reid | Pacific FC | 1 |
| 3 | Malcolm Shaw | Atlético Ottawa | 1 |
| 3 | Ballou Tabla | Atlético Ottawa | 1 |
| 3 | Maxim Tissot | Forge FC, Atlético Ottawa | 1 |
| 3 | Zach Verhoven | Atlético Ottawa | 1 |