2026 Northern Super League season
| Season | 2026 |
|---|---|
| Dates | April 24 – October 26 (regular season) October 31 – November 14 (playoffs) |
← 2025 2027 → | |
The 2026 Northern Super League season will be the second season of the Northern Super League, the top level of women's Canadian soccer. The season will start on April 24 and conclude with the final on November 14.
Vancouver Rise FC are the defending league champions, while AFC Toronto are the defending regular season winners.
Teams
Six clubs will participate in the season.
Stadiums and locations
| Team | Results | Location | Stadium | Capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Wild FC | details | Calgary, Alberta | McMahon Stadium | 35,400
|
| Halifax Tides FC | details | Halifax, Nova Scotia | Wanderers Grounds | 7,500
|
| Montreal Roses FC | details | Laval, Quebec | Centre Sportif Bois-de-Boulogne | 5,581
|
| Ottawa Rapid FC | details | Ottawa, Ontario | TD Place Stadium | 24,000
|
| AFC Toronto | details | Toronto, Ontario | York Lions Stadium/BMO Field | 4,000/30,000
|
| Vancouver Rise FC | details | Burnaby, British Columbia | Swangard Stadium | 4,500
|
Personnel and sponsorship
| Team | Head coach | Captain | Kit manufacturer | Shirt sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Wild | Sinead McSharry | Meggie Dougherty Howard | Hummel[1] | None |
| Halifax Tides | Stephen Hart | IWK Foundation[2] | ||
| Montreal Roses | Robert Rositoiu | Tanya Boychuk, Megane Sauve | None | |
| Ottawa Rapid | Katrine Pedersen | None | ||
| AFC Toronto | Marko Milanović | Desjardins[3] | ||
| Vancouver Rise | Anja Heiner-Møller | Shannon Woeller | None |
Coaching changes
| Team | Outgoing coach | Manner of departure | Date of vacancy | Position in table | Incoming coach | Date of appointment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Calgary Wild FC | Lydia Bedford | Left to join England women's national under-23 football team | March 9, 2026 | Pre-season | Sinead McSharry | March 9, 2026 |
Regular season
Format
Each club will play 25 matches during the season, playing each other club five times. The top four clubs will advance to the two-legged semifinals, with the winners advancing to a single championship match.[4]
Standings
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Playoff qualification |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Calgary Wild | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Advance to Playoffs |
| 2 | Halifax Tides | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 3 | Montreal Roses | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 4 | Ottawa Rapid | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 5 | AFC Toronto | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| 6 | Vancouver Rise | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Rules for classification: 1) Head-to-head points; 2) Head-to-head goal difference; 3) Overall goal difference; 4) Most wins; 5) Most goals scored; 6) Least goals conceded; 7) Least red cards; 8) Least yellow cards; 9) Drawing of lots.[5]
Results
Positions by matchweek
= Playoffs
Playoffs
The semifinals first legs will be played on October 31 and November 1, and the second legs will be played on November 7 and 8. The final will be hosted at a pre-determined host city on November 14.
| Semifinals | Final | ||||||||||
| 1 | |||||||||||
| 4 | |||||||||||
| 2 | |||||||||||
| 3 | |||||||||||
Foreign players
Rosters consist of 20–25 players, of which a maximum of eight can be international players.[6]
The following international players were signed for the 2025 season. Note that players may be considered domestic for NSL purposes (Canadian citizens, permanent residents, or refugees) while still representing other countries in international competitions.
Broadcasting
All 75 Northern Super League regular season matches will be available nationally across multiple platforms, through TSN and CBC
French-language coverage will be available for all Montreal Roses matches, through RDS and ICI Radio-Canada Télé and ICI TOU.TV.
In addition to linear broadcasts, a "Game of the Week" will stream on CBC Gem and NSL.ca, while additional matches will stream on TSN+ and NSL.ca.[7][8]
References
- ^ "Northern Super League Names hummel as Official Kit Provider". Northern Super League. December 20, 2024. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
- ^ Callum Smith (March 21, 2025). "Halifax Tides jersey partnership about a mission, not money". CTV News. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
- ^ Maailah Blackwood (February 18, 2025). "AFC Toronto Announces Desjardins Group as founding partner". AFC Toronto. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
- ^ Davidson, Neil (September 12, 2024). "Northern Super League opens sales of season tickets for 2025 kickoff". CBC Sports.
- ^ "Six Seconds - The home of women's football in Canada". Six Seconds. Retrieved October 8, 2025.
- ^ Dunlop, Brendan (October 23, 2024). "Behind the Badge: NSL 101 - Everything You Need to Know About Canada's First Professional Women's Soccer League". NSL - Official site of the Northern Super League. Retrieved February 7, 2025.
- ^ "A Season of Firsts: Breaking Down the 2025 NSL Schedule". NSL - Official site of the Northern Super League. Retrieved April 17, 2025.
- ^ "All the Ways to Watch the NSL". NSL - Official site of the Northern Super League. Retrieved April 17, 2025.