Notes:
- All quotes are translated from French.
- The article has been updated with a statement from the Canadian Premier League

At long last, the province of Quebec will be home to a Canadian Premier League.

First reported by Olivier Brett of RDS and later echoed by Tony Marinaro, Rocco Placentino—the rumored president of the future club—has since confirmed the news to Radio-Canada Sports.

“There are still many details I can’t share today, but my dream over the past five years, to bring a CPL team to Quebec, is finally real,” said the former Montréal Impact player.

Since the Canadian Premier League’s inception, expanding to Quebec has been the top priority. Home to countless talented players, the league felt incomplete without a team in La Belle Province.

“There is a group of buyers that has been approved. It has been a year and a half since one of the investors began the process,” Rocco said. “We will soon know who the group really is, but it is certain there will be local investors because we said a project in Quebec had to include Quebecois. For me, it is a source of great pride.”

According to Tony Marinaro, the club’s ownership group will feature American businessman Matt Rizzetta, Montreal businessman Angelo Pasto, and other local investors, with Rizzetta set to serve as chairman.

The biggest question still up in the air is where the new club will call home. Quebec City has long been a leading candidate, especially after the CPL’s On-Tour match there drew over 7,000 fans despite miserable weather.

Montréal and Laval are also in the mix, with the latter already offering a CPL-size venue in Stade Boréale, current home of the Montréal Roses in the Northern Super League.

Montréal, however, presents more challenges, as drawing support in a city with an established MLS club has proven difficult—something both Vancouver FC and York United have struggled with.

"The important thing is that we will have a team in Quebec," Rocco said. "Regardless of the location, whether it is Quebec City, Laval, or Montreal, the important thing is to understand the project. It is primarily a Quebec project."

How a Quebec team will impact CF Montréal

There’s no doubt a CPL club in La Belle Province would impact the Impact, especially since Montréal doesn’t field a reserve team in MLS Next Pro.

Instead, the club has often relied on loans, and lots of them to the CPL–most notably Jonathan Sirois, who spent 2021 and 2022 with Valour before returning to Montréal to claim the starting goalkeeper spot.

"I speak about it with great emotion," Placentino told Radio-Canada Sports. "For me, it's not a competition with CF Montreal. If we're really strong in soccer in Quebec, it's thanks to the Saputo family. We'd like to work with CF Montreal so that players who aren't on the first team can be loaned to the CPL team in Quebec, rather than Halifax or Calgary. These players could stay at home. We have a lot of local talent here in Quebec. Quebec is also home to Arabs, Italians, Mexicans, etc. It's home to all nationalities. We know this, but the rest of Canada doesn't. The goal of this project is to show who Quebec really is. We want the world to know that we have stars here, like Ismaël Koné, Moïse Bombito, Mathieu Choinière, Sam Piette... We have so many good players and coaches. Mauro Biello, Marc Dos Santos, Wilfried Nancy. We are a province with a wealth of soccer talent."

The Canadian Premier League has already showcased plenty of Quebecois talent; David Choinière, Woobens Pacius, and Sam Salter, the league’s current top scorer, who is just a few goals away from becoming the all-time leader, to name a few.

Radio-Canada Sports reports that the CPL will make announcements in the coming days, with the official club launch set for the end of September. The new team will debut in 2026.

The Canadian Premier League released a statement regarding the reports:

The Canadian Premier League welcomed prospective investors to Toronto this week, who presented a vision for bringing a CPL club to Québec in 2026. Québec is an important market for the CPL, and we look forward to sharing more if and when an agreement is finalized.