Canadian Premier League Finals
The Canadian Premier League Finals is the annual championship game of the Canadian Premier League (CPL), the top level of Canadian soccer. As of the 2021 Final, it is played as a single match hosted by the higher seeded team. The winner of the Finals earns Canada's berth in the following year's CONCACAF League. The inaugural Finals were held on October 26 and November 2, 2019. The winner is awarded the North Star Shield trophy. Format. Different formats and methods of qualification have been used for each of the first three CPL seasons. In  2019, the 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. 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 Final was contested in a single match between the two top-seeded teams from the four-team second stage. The 2021 season used a four-team single leg knockout format with the two first round winners advancing to the Final. The higher-seeded finalist will host the single leg game. If a match is tied at the end of normal playing time, extra time will be played (two periods of 15  minutes each) and followed, if necessary, by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners. Trophy. The winning team is presented with the North Star Shield. It is a solid crystal circular shield engraved with the league's logo. The shield sits atop a maple wood base. The winners and finalists are also presented with gold and silver medals respectively.