Friday's Canadian Championship draw produced a slew of local matchups with the defending champion Vancouver Whitecaps and 2023 runner-up CF Montreal watching from the sidelines at the start.
Both MLS teams get byes to the quarterfinals of the 14-team, five-round competition that runs through September with the winner hoisting the Voyageurs Cup and qualifying for the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Toronto FC will host semi-pro Simcoe County Rovers of League1 Ontario in the preliminary round while Pacific FC of the Canadian Premier League welcomes the Victoria Highlanders of League1 BC. CS St-Laurent of Ligue1 Quebec visits the CPL's Halifax Wanderers.
Cavalry FC hosts Vancouver FC, Forge FC welcomes York United and Atletico Ottawa entertains Valour FC in the remaining preliminary-round games in all-CPL affairs.
The draw had teams assigned to East and West pots to help facilitate early regional matchups.
The single-game preliminary round runs from April 23 to May 1 with exact times to come later.
The two-legged quarterfinals will see the Whitecaps play the Cavalry-Vancouver FC winner and Montreal face either Forge or York United.
The Ottawa-Valour winner will face either Pacific or Victoria while the TFC-Simcoe victor will take on either Halifax or CS St-Laurent.
Hosting for the preliminary round was determined by Canadian Championship club ranking index, with the higher-ranked club staging the match.
For the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, the lower-ranked club will host the first leg and the higher-ranked team will stage the return leg.
Another draw will be held after the quarterfinals to determine the semifinal matchups and location of the final.
The 2024 tournament is sponsored by Telus.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 23, 2024
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
