# 2021 Canadian Premier League season

The 2021 Canadian Premier League season was the third season of the Canadian Premier League, the top level of Canadian soccer. Forge FC were defending champions, after defeating HFX Wanderers FC in the 2020 final.
The season was planned to commence on May 22, the Victoria Day weekend, pending the approval of government authorities and the state of the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. However, on May 14, it was announced that the start was to be pushed back to mid-June or early July.
On June 5, the league committed to a full 28-match season, but that the season would begin in a single-site bubble at IG Field in Winnipeg, Manitoba, promoted as "The Kickoff", with each team playing eight matches between June 26 and July 24. All matches were played behind closed doors and in compliance with Manitoba public health orders. On July 30, the CPL began to play matches at home venues.
Pacific FC defeated two-time champions and title holders Forge FC in the final to win their first title.

## Team and rule changes

The same eight clubs that participated in the 2020 Canadian Premier League season competed in 2021. York United FC participated under their new name for the first time, having previously been known as York9 FC.
Teams were required to play Canadian players aged 21 years or younger for a minimum of 1,500 minutes this season, increased from 1,000 minutes. The maximum team compensation for this season was $1.2 million split between players and coaching staff. The required spend on player compensation was $650,000 to $850,000.

## Teams
### Stadiums and locations

| Club | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
| Atlético Ottawa | Ottawa | TD Place Stadium | 24,000 |
| Cavalry | Foothills County | ATCO Field | 6,000 |
| FC Edmonton | Edmonton | Clarke Stadium | 5,100 |
| Forge | Hamilton | Tim Hortons Field | 23,218 |
| HFX Wanderers | Halifax | Wanderers Grounds | 6,500 |
| Pacific | Langford | Starlight Stadium | 6,000 |
| Valour | Winnipeg | IG Field | 33,000 |
| York United | Toronto | York Lions Stadium | 4,000 |

### Personnel and sponsorship

| Team | Head coach | Captain(s) | Shirt sponsor | Kit manufacturer |
| Atlético Ottawa | Mista | Milovan Kapor | ComeOn! | Macron |
| Cavalry | Tommy Wheeldon Jr. | Nik Ledgerwood | WestJet | Macron |
| FC Edmonton | Alan Koch | | Swoop | Macron |
| Forge | Bobby Smyrniotis | Kyle Bekker | Tim Hortons | Macron |
| HFX Wanderers | Stephen Hart | Andre Rampersad | Volkswagen | Macron |
| Pacific | Pa-Modou Kah | Jamar Dixon | Volkswagen | Macron |
| Valour | Phillip Dos Santos | Daryl Fordyce | OneSoccer | Macron |
| York United | Jimmy Brennan | Roger Thompson | Macron | Macron |

### Number of teams by province or territory

| Rank | Province or territory | Number | Teams |
| 1 | Ontario | 3 | Atlético Ottawa Forge York United |
| 2 | Alberta | 2 | Cavalry FC Edmonton |
| 3 | British Columbia | 1 | Pacific |
| 3 | Manitoba | 1 | Valour |
| 3 | Nova Scotia | 1 | HFX Wanderers |

### Coaching changes

| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
| FC Edmonton | Jeff Paulus | Resigned | September 21, 2020 | Pre-season | Alan Koch | November 24, 2020 |
| Valour FC | Rob Gale | Sacked | September 23, 2021 | 5th | Phillip Dos Santos | September 23, 2021 |

## Regular season
### Format

Between June 26 and July 24, teams played their first eight games at IG Field in Winnipeg. Teams from Eastern Canada and Western Canada played two matches against each of the four teams in the opposite region to reduce travel when teams return to home stadiums. For the remainder of the season, teams played 16 games against opponents from their own region and 4 against opponents from the opposite region.

### Table

| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| 1 | Forge (S) | 28 | 16 | 2 | 10 | 39 | 24 | +15 | 50 | Advance to playoffs |
| 2 | Cavalry | 28 | 14 | 8 | 6 | 34 | 30 | +4 | 50 | Advance to playoffs |
| 3 | Pacific (C) | 28 | 13 | 6 | 9 | 47 | 34 | +13 | 45 | Advance to playoffs |
| 4 | York United | 28 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 35 | 39 | −4 | 36 | Advance to playoffs |
| 5 | Valour | 28 | 10 | 5 | 13 | 38 | 36 | +2 | 35 | |
| 6 | HFX Wanderers | 28 | 8 | 11 | 9 | 28 | 34 | −6 | 35 | |
| 7 | FC Edmonton | 28 | 6 | 10 | 12 | 34 | 41 | −7 | 28 | |
| 8 | Atlético Ottawa | 28 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 30 | 47 | −17 | 26 | |

### Results
#### The Kickoff

| Teams | CAV | EDM | PAC | VAL | ATO | FOR | HFX | YRK |
| Cavalry | — | | | | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| FC Edmonton | | — | | | 0–1 | 2–0 | 1–0 | 1–1 |
| Pacific | | | — | | 4–2 | 1–2 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Valour | | | | — | 2–0 | 1–0 | 2–0 | 3–0 |
| Atlético Ottawa | 1–4 | 1–1 | 0–1 | 0–1 | — | | | |
| Forge | 1–2 | 1–0 | 3–0 | 0–2 | | — | | |
| HFX Wanderers | 1–2 | 2–1 | 0–0 | 1–0 | | | — | |
| York United | 0–0 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2–1 | | | | — |

#### Combined

| Home \ Away | CAV | EDM | PAC | VAL | ATO | FOR | HFX | YRK |
| Cavalry | — | 1–1 | 1–0 | | | | 0–0 | 2–1 |
| FC Edmonton | | — | 2–1 | 3–3 | 3–4 | 1–0 | | |
| Pacific | 3–1 | | — | 3–2 | 1–1 | | | 1–2 |
| Valour | 0–0 | 1–1 | | — | | 3–1 | 3–0 | |
| Atlético Ottawa | 3–1 | | | 2–0 | — | | 1–2 | 1–1 |
| Forge | 0–1 | | 2–1 | | 2–0 | — | | 0–2 |
| HFX Wanderers | | 1–0 | 1–0 | | 1–1 | 0–0 | — | |
| York United | | 1–1 | | 2–1 | | 1–3 | 2–2 | — |

## Playoffs

The top-four teams in the regular season qualified for the league playoffs. The first-place team hosted the fourth, and the second-place team hosted the third in a single match round. The winners advanced to the CPL Final, a single match hosted by the higher-seeded team.
If a match was level at the end of normal playing time, extra time would be played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner. If a match reached extra time, each team was allowed to make an additional substitution.
| Semi-finals November 20–21 | Semi-finals November 20–21 | Semi-finals November 20–21 | Final December 5 | Final December 5 | Final December 5 |
| 1 | Forge FC | 3 | | | |
| 4 | York United | 1 | | | |
| 4 | York United | 1 | 1 | Forge FC | 0 |
| | | | 3 | Pacific FC | 1 |
| 2 | Cavalry FC | 1 | 3 | Pacific FC | 1 |
| 3 | Pacific FC (a.e.t.) | 2 | | | |

### Matches
#### Final
## Awards
### Canadian Premier League Awards

On December 4, 2021, the Canadian Premier League revealed the nominees for the four individual awards that would be voted on by the media. These four awards plus the Golden Boot award are given based on performance over the whole season including Finals. The awards are Inuit soapstone sculptures designed by artists from Cape Dorset, Nunavut. The winners were announced at a ceremony on December 14.
2021 Canadian Premier League Awards :
| Award | Recipient | Finalists |
| Golden Boot (Hunter) | João Morelli (HFX Wanderers) | N/A |
| Golden Glove (Qimmiq or Canadian Inuit Dog) | Jonathan Sirois (Valour FC) | Marco Carducci (Cavalry FC) Triston Henry (Forge FC) |
| Coach of the Year (Owl) | Pa-Modou Kah (Pacific FC) | Bobby Smyrniotis (Forge FC) Tommy Wheeldon Jr. (Cavalry FC) |
| Player of the Year (Nikisuittuq) | João Morelli (HFX Wanderers FC) | Kyle Bekker (Forge FC) Terran Campbell (Pacific FC) |
| Best Under 21 Canadian Player of the Year (Polar Bear) | Alessandro Hojabrpour (Pacific FC) | Max Ferrari (York United FC) Victor Loturi (Cavalry FC) |

### Team of the Week

The Gatorade Team of the Week is selected by OneSoccer staff.
Team of the Week :
| Dates | Goalkeeper | Defenders | Midfielders | Forwards |
| June 26–28 | Powley (Ottawa) | Peña (Valour) Beckie (Ottawa) Jean-Baptiste (Valour) Chung (Pacific) | Martínez (Ottawa) Escalante (Cavalry) | Bassett (Pacific) Díaz (Pacific) Ricci (Valour) Bustos (Pacific) |
| June 28 – July 5 | Sirois (Valour) | Abzi (York) Yao (Cavalry) Jean-Baptiste (Valour) Farsi (Cavalry) | Simmons (Cavalry) Bekker (Forge) Ohin (Valour) | Alemán (Valour) Selemani (Cavalry) Jeannot Esua (Edmonton) |
| July 5–12 | Irving (Pacific) | Peña (Valour) MacNaughton (Pacific) Beckie (Ottawa) Chung (Pacific) | Bekker (Forge) McKendry (Ottawa) Rampersad (HFX) | Bassett (Pacific) Morelli (HFX) Bustos (Pacific) |
| July 12–19 | Sirois (Valour) | Awuah (Forge) Restrepo (HFX) Achinioti-Jönsson (Forge) Baquero (Valour) | Bekker (Forge) Sabak (Forge) Cissé (Forge) | Rea (Valour) Ricci (Valour) Musse (Cavalry) |
| July 20–26 | Sirois (Valour) | Restrepo (HFX) Yao (Cavalry) Klomp (Cavalry) Doner (HFX) | Johnston (York) Rampersad (HFX) | Bustos (Pacific) Díaz (Pacific) Shaw (Ottawa) Riggi (HFX) |
| July 26 – August 2 | Irving (Pacific) | Awuah (Forge) Samake (Pacific) Đidić (Edmonton) Doner (HFX) | Morelli (HFX) Gorskie (Edmonton) Cissé (Forge) | Bent (HFX) Warschewski (Edmonton) Bustos (Pacific) |
| August 2–9 | Giantsopoulos (York) | Ruby (HFX) Zator (York) Klomp (Cavalry) Farsi (Cavalry) | Ferrari (York) Norman Jr. (Cavalry) Johnston (York) | Camargo (Cavalry) Ongaro (Edmonton) Morelli (HFX) |
| August 9–16 | Silva (Valour) | Yao (Cavalry) Đidić (Edmonton) Beckie (Ottawa) | Chung (Pacific) Soto (Ottawa) McKendry (Ottawa) Farsi (Cavalry) | Wright (Ottawa) Shaw (Ottawa) Hernández (Cavalry) |
| August 16–23 | Giantsopoulos (York) | Gagnon-Laparé (HFX) Yao (Cavalry) Geffrard (HFX) Doner (HFX) | Aparicio (Pacific) Galhardo (Valour) Polisi (Pacific) Petrasso (York) | Ricci (Valour) Mason (Cavalry) |
| August 23–30 | James (Edmonton) | Awuah (Forge) Krutzen (Forge) Achinioti-Jönsson (Forge) Farsi (Cavalry) | Aparicio (Pacific) Ohin (Valour) Hojabrpour (Pacific) | Borges (Forge) Pacius (Forge) Campbell (Pacific) |
| August 30– September 7 | Carducci (Cavalry) | Abzi (York) Schaale (HFX) Klomp (Cavalry) Chung (Pacific) | Ferrari (York) Simmons (Cavalry) Farsi (Cavalry) | Heard (Pacific) Petrasso (York) Morelli (HFX) |
| September 7–13 | Henry (Forge) | Zator (York) Đidić (Edmonton) N'sa (York) | Gonzalez (Edmonton) Aparicio (Pacific) Cissé (Forge) Ferrari (York) | Shaw (Ottawa) Warschewski (Edmonton) Morelli (HFX) |
| September 13–20 | Silva (Valour) | Abzi (York) Reyes (Valour) MacNaughton (Pacific) Verhoven (Ottawa) | Lamothe (HFX) Ledgerwood (Cavalry) Loturi (Cavalry) | Ongaro (Edmonton) Soto (Ottawa) Gutiérrez (York) |
| September 20–27 | Powley (Ottawa) | Abzi (York) Krutzen (Forge) Achinioti-Jönsson (Forge) Beckie (Ottawa) | Bekker (Forge) Hojabrpour (Pacific) Rampersad (HFX) | Karajovanovic (HFX) L. Wright (York) B. Wright (Ottawa) |
| September 27 – October 4 | Henry (Forge) | Awuah (Forge) Krutzen (Forge) Klomp (Cavalry) Aird (Edmonton) | Gagnon-Laparé (HFX) Achinioti-Jönsson (Forge) Dyer (Valour) | Bent (HFX) Díaz (Pacific) Morelli (HFX) |
| October 4–12 | James (Edmonton) | Escalante (Cavalry) Wilson (York) Schaale (HFX) Fayia (Edmonton) | Fisk (Cavalry) Gagnon-Laparé (HFX) Ohin (Valour) Telfer (Ottawa) | Dyer (Valour) Akio (Valour) |
| October 12–18 | Baskett (HFX) | Yao (Cavalry) Schaale (HFX) Klomp (Cavalry) | Browne (Forge) Bekker (Forge) Toussaint (York) Cissé (Forge) | Heard (Pacific) Díaz (Pacific) Campbell (Pacific) |
| October 19–25 | Ingham (York) | Santos (HFX) Acosta (Ottawa) Yao (Cavalry) Klomp (Cavalry) Verhoven (Ottawa) | Fisk (Cavalry) Verhoeven (York) Soto (Ottawa) Coupland (Ottawa) | Mason (Cavalry) |
| October 25 – November 1 | Sirois (Valour) | Awuah (Forge) Krutzen (Forge) Baquero (Valour) | Navarro (Forge) Bekker (Forge) Galán (Valour) Akio (Valour) | Galhardo (Valour) Wright (York) Bustos (Pacific) |
| November 2–8 | Henry (Forge) | Metusala (Forge) Yao (Cavalry) Klomp (Cavalry) | Abzi (York) Najem (Edmonton) Cissé (Forge) Farsi (Cavalry) | Johnston (York) Mason (Cavalry) Dyer (Valour) |

## Player transfers
### U Sports Draft

The 2021 CPL–U Sports Draft was held virtually on January 29. Draftees are invited to team preseason camps, with an opportunity to earn a developmental contract and retain their U Sports men's soccer eligibility. FC Edmonton selected Thomas Gardner with the first overall pick. Two players were selected by each CPL team, with a total of 16 players being drafted including 12 Canadians.

### Foreign players

Canadian Premier League teams could sign a maximum of seven international players, out of which only five could be in the starting line-up for each match. Starting this season, teams were required to carry a minimum of four international players, either signed through or approved by the league's scouting partner, 21st Club. The following players were considered foreign players for the 2021 season. This list does not include Canadian citizens who represent other countries at the international level.
| Club | Player 1 | Player 2 | Player 3 | Player 4 | Player 5 | Player 6 | Player 7 | Former Players |
| Atlético Ottawa | Viti Martínez | Vashon Neufville | Tevin Shaw | Miguel Acosta | Rafael Núñez | Alberto Soto | Raúl Uche | |
| Cavalry | José Escalante | Richard Luca | Tom Field | Daan Klomp | Joe Mason | | | |
| FC Edmonton | Jeannot Esua | Ramón Soria | Sharly Mabussi | Tobias Warschewski | Hunter Gorskie | Roberto Avila | Azriel Gonzalez | Raúl Tito |
| Forge | Alexander Achinioti-Jönsson | Elimane Cissé | Daniel Krutzen | Paolo Sabak | Joshua Navarro | Omar Browne | | |
| HFX Wanderers | Akeem Garcia | Andre Rampersad | Peter Schaale | Alex Marshall | João Morelli | Eriks Santos | Cory Bent | |
| Pacific | Alejandro Díaz | Ollie Bassett | Gianni dos Santos | | | | | |
| Valour | José Galán | Arnold Bouka Moutou | Andrew Jean-Baptiste | Amir Soto | Moses Dyer | Rafael Galhardo | Rodrigo Reyes | |
| York United | Álvaro Rivero | Nicholas Hamilton | Julian Ulbricht | Gerard Lavergne | Osvaldo Ramírez | Sebastián Gutiérrez | | |
Players in italic denote players new to their respective clubs for the 2021 season, sorted chronologically by their announcement.