Canada Soccer unveiled the full schedule for the 2017 Canadian Championship on Thursday.
The 2017 tournament, the 10th edition of the country's domestic cup competition, kicks off with a play-in qualifying round in May, as five teams will participate in this year's competition once again. In addition to the MLS entrants, Toronto FC, Montreal Impact and Vancouver Whitecaps, the USL's Ottawa Fury and NASL's FC Edmonton will compete for the Voyageurs Cup.
Two new developments are present in this year's tournament. First, teams will be required to field at least three Canadian players in their starting lineups throughout the tournament. And the winner of the 2017 Canadian Championship will play 2016 winner Toronto FC in a one-game playoff on Aug. 9 in Toronto for the right to participate in the 2017-18 CONCACAF Champions League. If TFC repeat as champion, the playoff game will not be held. The playoff comes due to recent announced changes to the CCL format.
Full 2017 Canadian Championship schedule:
2017 Qualifying Round
May 3 Ottawa Fury vs. FC Edmonton
May 10 FC Edmonton vs. Ottawa Fury
2017 Semifinal Round
May 23 (Qualifying Round winner) vs. Toronto FC
May 23 Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Montreal Impact
May 30 Montreal Impact vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
May 31 Toronto FC vs (Qualifying Round winner)
2017 Championship Final
June 20 or 21 First leg between Semifinal winners (Should Montreal make the Final this match will be played on June 21)
June 27 Second leg between Semifinal winners
