Structure
The professional league structure in Canada coincides with the league competitions of the neighbouring United States. Promotion and relegation does not occur between any league levels. Formally, Canada does not have a fully professional national league. The top professional clubs in Canada compete in the Canadian Championship for the Voyageurs Cup, which is the country's national championship trophy and which earns the winner the right to play in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Since the introduction of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the US, the popularity of the United Soccer Leagues (USL), where most of the Canadian clubs competed, declined. With the decision to introduce Canadian clubs to MLS, with Toronto FC joining in 2006, the Toronto Lynx began playing in the amateur-level USL Premier Development League (PDL). Two other Canadian clubs have since joined MLS: Vancouver Whitecaps FC joined in 2011 and the Montreal Impact joined in 2012.
Changes to and the evolution of the leagues based in the United States, particularly the decline of the USL second and third tier leagues has allowed the Canadian Soccer League (CSL) to establish itself as a semi-professional league in Canada, considering regional expansion to become the largest national domestic league.
Read more about this topic: Canadian Soccer Pyramid
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