Plans are underway for a professional women’s soccer league in Canada, scheduled to launch in 2025.
Former Canadian soccer player Diana Matheson is launching the league with business partner Thomas Gilbert through a company named Project 8 Sports.
The league already has two founding members: the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Calgary Foothills. They will be joined by 6 more teams for the inaugural season.
The 8 teams will be split into 2 conferences of 4 teams each.
Canada Soccer president Nick Bontis is in favour of the idea, saying: “This is excellent news for our sport nationally and Canada Soccer is in support of the proposal for the launch of a women’s professional league in Canada.”
“We are always open and willing to work with individuals and organizations that want to further develop the women’s game, which is a vitally important part of Canada Soccer’s Strategic Plan. This initiative is aligned with work we have already started and the launch of a women’s professional league prior to the FIFA World Cup 2026 has always been one of my priorities as president.”
“We are thrilled to announce that the development of a Canadian professional women’s soccer league is well underway,” Matheson said in a statement. “Much work has gone on behind the scenes to get to today.”
Project 8 said in a release that the league will be led “primarily by former national team players,” with gold medallists Christine Sinclair and Stephanie Labbe “contributing to the planning and development of the league.”
The new league already has CIBC and Air Canada as its founding sponsors.
“The creation of this league is something we have been advocating for over many years, and to be part of seeing it come to fruition is truly exciting,” said Labbe, the Whitecaps’ general manager of women’s soccer. “We look forward to working with stakeholders across the Canadian soccer environment to make this league successful.”
It’s important that women are building the league, said Sinclair.
“We are committed to developing something that is built differently, for women by women,” she said. “We want to change the soccer landscape in Canada so women’s players can develop and play professionally here at home instead of having to go abroad, as every one of our national team players must do now to be successful.”
“This is a defining moment for soccer in our country,” Breagha Carr-Harris, Canada Soccer’s head of women’s professional soccer, said in a statement.
“The addition of a Canadian professional women’s league advances the game and player pathways domestically and it strengthens the ecosystem globally.
“We are excited that our research and strategic planning in the past few months aligns with the vision put forward by Diana Matheson and Project 8.
“As the governing body for the game in Canada, Canada Soccer has an operational and administrative duty by which our General Secretary is ultimately responsible for all league sanctioning. This process will be done collaboratively and we look forward to working together on next steps.”
