On Monday afternoon, Canadian Premier League Commissioner Mark Noonan and Executive VP, Infrastructure and Chief Legal Officer Marni Dicker met with Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand to discuss potential locations for a future CPL team.
In an interview with La Presse, Marni Dicker outlined the league's plan for an expansion club in La Belle Province, most specifically in the City of Quebec.
Note: All quotes are translated from French.
"We are meeting with the mayor and his team to explore opportunities for expansion in Quebec City," said Dicker.
"We wanted to see with the city where there was an opportunity to build a new stadium. They shared four or five sites with us."
Dicker did not reveal those locations with La Presse, though she did say she is "very optimistic" about the chances of seeing a Canadian Premier League team in Quebec one day.
When? "We hope within two years, but nothing is settled yet."
The CPL itself is leading the location search
Rather than leaving stadium site selection to interested investor groups, Marni Dicker stated that the league itself is conducting the location research.
"We want the best possible location for a stadium, for the best potential for success," Dicker said. "We're going to make the decision as a league on where we want a stadium, and once that's done, we'll determine the appropriate partner."
Temporarily playing at a university field won't be an issue
Dicker confirmed that one of the interested groups proposed using Université Laval’s 13,000-capacity Stade Telus as a temporary home while a new stadium is built, adding that the league would have no problem with this solution—provided a permanent location is secured.
“Our reaction was to say: ‘It’s OK for the new team to play for a year in a temporary location, but we need to know where the permanent home will be before we come to Quebec City,’” explained Dicker. “That’s why we’re here.”
What's the status on expansion teams at the moment?
The Canadian Premier League has yet to officially announce any expansion teams for 2026, but reports indicate that two new clubs are expected next year, with Kelowna, British Columbia, and Windsor, Ontario, emerging as the leading candidate cities.
Quebec has long been at the center of expansion discussions, remaining without a Canadian Premier League team aside from MLS's CF Montréal.
For the first time, the league has officially confirmed that formal talks are underway for a potential team in the province, though, as past cases have shown, it's best not to get too excited for now.
On Saturday, Victory Grounds Ventures announced it has withdrawn its proposal for a stadium at the Memorial Centre in Kingston, Ontario.
