The draw for the 2024 TELUS Canadian Championship was conducted on Friday morning, as 12 of the 14 participating sides learned who they’ll be playing in the tournament’s preliminary round.

Both finalists from the 2023 tournament — MLS’s Vancouver Whitecaps and CF Montréal — received byes to the quarter-finals, and will therefore have to wait to find out who they’ll be matched up against.

There will be six first-round matchups, to be played as single-elimination knockout games in April or May. All eight Canadian Premier League teams will enter in this round, as will the three semi-pro sides (Victoria Highlanders of League1 BC, Simcoe County Rovers of League1 Ontario and CS St-Laurent of Ligue1 Québec). Major League Soccer club Toronto FC will also kick off their campaign in the preliminary round.

Highlights of the first round draw include several local derbies. Pacific FC will host Victoria Highlanders in a fascinating Vancouver Island clash, in what will be the second consecutive year where Pacific play the League1 BC champions after they defeated TSS Rovers in last year’s competition. Further east, Forge FC and York United FC will square off in a 905 Derby tie at Tim Hortons Field. Meanwhile, Toronto FC will, for the first time, host a League1 Ontario club as Simcoe County Rovers head down Highway 400 to play at BMO Field.

Atlético Ottawa were the eastern side drawn into the western side of the bracket, and they’ll host Valour FC at TD Place as recent Atleti additions Matteo de Brienne and Rayane Yesli take on their former club, while Valour’s Noah Verhoeven visits his former side. Calgary, Alta. will host Canadian Championship action for the first time since 2022, as Cavalry FC welcome Vancouver FC to ATCO Field, where VFC will seek their first ever win in this tournament.

Finally, Halifax Wanderers FC will welcome CS St-Laurent of Ligue1 Québec to Nova Scotia as the semi-pro side from the Montréal area makes its debut in this competition after winning last year’s L1Q title.

The path for the two-legged quarter-final matchups was determined on Friday as well, as the Whitecaps will take on either Cavalry or Vancouver FC and CF Montréal will play Forge or York United.

Host teams for the first round were decided based on the Canadian Championship club ranking index, with the higher-seeded team (as listed here) playing at home.

For more information on the draw procedure, tournament format and schedule, click here. The exact schedule and kickoff times for the preliminary round will be announced soon, but the preliminary round will take place between April 23 and May 1.

The full list of matchups for the first two rounds is as follows:

Preliminary Round matchups

Match 1: Cavalry FC vs. Vancouver FC
Match 2: Atlético Ottawa vs. Valour FC
Match 3: Pacific FC vs. Victoria Highlanders FC
Match 4: Forge FC vs. York United FC 
Match 5: Halifax Wanderers FC vs. CS St-Laurent
Match 6: Toronto FC vs. Simcoe County Rovers

Quarter-Final matchups

Series 1: Winner Match 1 vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Series 2: Winner Match 2 vs. Winner Match 3*
Series 3: Winner Match 4 vs. CF Montréal
Series 4: Winner Match 5 vs. Winner Match 6*

*Note that the above matchup format does not reflect home/away positioning as this will be determined once the matchups are set and the higher ranked clubs are identified.