Draft:Canadian Premier League Playoffs

The Canadian Premier League Playoffs (les éliminatoires de la Première Ligue canadienne) is the postseason phase of the Canadian Premier League to determine that year's league champion. It was first contested as a multi-round elimination tournament in the 2021 season, to replace previous methods of determining the participants of the Canadian Premier League Finals, which used an Apertura and Clausura format in 2019, and an additional group stage in 2020.

Format
Different formats and methods of qualification have been used for each of the first five CPL seasons.

Current format
The current format of the CPL Playoffs utilizes a page playoff system, where five of the league's eight teams have an opportunity to claim the league championship. The system was brought in for the 2023 Canadian Premier League season to replace the conventional Shaughnessy playoff system used in 2021 and 2022. The Canadian Soccer Association chose to use the page playoff system as it puts more emphasis on regular season performances. Because a primary goal of the CPL is to develop Canadian soccer players and eventually have them play in more competitive leagues in places such as Europe, where a majority of league titles are determined by regular season standings, the CSA wanted the CPL format to partially reflect that.

2019
The 2019 finals were contested between the winners of the Spring and Fall seasons. The championship was contested as a two-legged tie, with each team hosting one leg at home. The winner was determined by aggregate score but if the aggregate score was tied, the team with the most away goals wins the series. A penalty shoot-out was the final tiebreaker.

2020
The 2020 season saw the end of the split season format, with the 2020 finals scheduled to be contested between the top-seeded regular season team and the winner of a playoff between the second and third-placed teams. However, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the season format was scrapped and replaced with a single-site tournament with a two-stage regular season. The 2020 final was contested in a single match between the two top-seeded teams from the four-team second stage.

2021–2022
The 2021 season brought in a new four-team single leg knockout playoff with the two first round winners advancing to the final. The higher-seeded finalist hosts the single leg game. If a match is tied at the end of normal playing time, extra time is played (two periods of 15 minutes each) and, if necessary, followed by a penalty shoot-out to determine the winners.

Prior to the start of the 2022 season, the league announced that playoff semi-finals would switch to a two-legged format but that the final would continue to be played as a single match hosted by the higher-seeded team.


 * 2021


 * 2022

Results by team
Results as of 2023 season Teams below red line are no longer playing in the Canadian Premier League