We ranked all 11 professional football clubs in Canada based on club history, honours, fans, & more.

Without any further ado, the ranking:

1. Toronto FC & CF Montréal

View Toronto FC page

View CF Montréal page

We couldn't separate these two. Both clubs have their arguments as to why they're the biggest club. We used our website's head-to-head comparison to help us pick our 1st-placed club.

First, let's compare the historical head-to-head match-ups between Toronto and Montréal:

Toronto FC wins: 27
CF Montréal wins: 19
Draws: 10

We have a clear winner in this category, with the Reds having won almost 50% of the matches between these 2 sides.

Let's compare the clubs' trophies now using our website's honours page:

CF Montréal: 14 trophies
Toronto FC: 10 trophies

Like the other category, we have a clear winner this time, and it's CF Montréal. However, winning more trophies doesn't necessarily mean being the better club, especially in a country where teams play in different leagues and competitions as the years go by. Some trophies may be minor and not too important, and some might be the biggest thing a club can win at this level.

Let's take a more detailed look at their honours:

CF Montréal: 11 Canadian Championships, 2 USL-1 titles, and 1 APSL title.
Toronto FC: 8 Canadian Championships, 1 MLS Cup and 1 Supporters' Shield.

Toronto FC fans will argue that they have the most important trophy here, the MLS Cup, and they're right, while CF Montréal fans will argue they have the most trophies, which is also right!

Let's take a look at history now.

CF Montréal was founded on December 13, 1992 (30 years ago!) as the Montréal Impact. They started playing in the APSL (American Professional Soccer League) in 1993, and won their first ever club title in 1994:

La 2ème capsule Histoire de Foot Montréal est en ligne pour les membres Premiums.

Revivons un moment de l'histoire ensemble que vous retrouverez dans votre capsule.

Claudine en feu pour le premier titre de l'histoire du club (à @RDSca )#CFMTL pic.twitter.com/gTe0UtqXrL

— BBN Médias ???? (@BBNMedias) January 23, 2023

Since then, the Quebec-based side has won 2 more league titles (USL-1 in 2004 and in 2009, and 11 Canadian Championships).

Toronto FC was founded 17 years ago, on October 27, 2005. The club played its first MLS season in 2007, and they won the league in 2017. The Reds have also won the Supporters' Shield once (also in 2017), and the Canadian Championship 8 times, most recently against Forge FC.

Both fanbases have their reasons and arguments as to why their club is bigger, but we ultimately decided to put both at 1st. Toronto FC has the most important trophy of them all and have the upper hand in the head-to-head record, but CF Montréal has more history and more achievements.

3. Vancouver Whitecaps FC

View Vancouver Whitecaps page

After TFC and Montréal, the 'Caps are the undisputed 3rd biggest club in Canada. They're the oldest club in the country, having been founded 49 years ago (December 11, 1973). The Whitecaps have won 9 major trophies, including a national record of 7 league titles, 4 of them being the now-defunct Canadian Soccer League, 2 USL-1 titles and 1 NASL title. The club has also won 2 Canadian Championships, most recently in 2022 after beating Toronto FC in the final.

4. Forge FC

View Forge FC page

When it comes to the CPL, Forge is without a shadow of doubt the biggest club in it. 3 league titles out of 4, only CPL club to qualify to the Champions League, only CPL club to play in a Canadian Championship final, qualified to 3 out of 4 possible CONCACAF League editions, the upper hand vs. every other CPL team when it comes to head-to-head match-ups, etc... Of course, that is nothing compared to the top 3, so the Hamilton-based side come in 4th in our ranking.

5. Pacific FC

View Pacific FC page

We'll be honest, we really struggled to pick the 5th team. It was a fight between Pacific and Cavalry. Ultimately, we went with Pacific. The BC club is the only club in the CPL except Forge to have won the league. The club is also one of the only 2 CPL sides to beat an MLS club, eliminating the Whitecaps from the Canadian Championship back in 2021 after an incredible 4-3 win at Starlight Stadium. Historically, Pacific is the 3rd-best club in the CPL when it comes to the regular season, being 19 points above York United.

6. Cavalry FC

View Cavalry FC page

Cavalry comes 6th in our ranking. Historically, they've been the best team in the CPL, though they don't have any trophies to show for it. They finished 1st in 2019, but ended up losing the final vs. Forge. Cavalry is the first CPL club to beat an MLS side, beating the 'Caps in their first ever season (2019) and at BC Place! The only other CPL club to eliminate an MLS team is Pacific.

7. Atlético Ottawa

View Atlético Ottawa page

Atlético Ottawa is the 2nd youngest club in the country, having been founded 3 years ago (January 29, 2020). Despite that, the club has already finished 1st in the league, doing so last year with 49 points. From the top 7 best finishes in a season in all of CPL history, Atlético Ottawa is 5th. In all of the league's history, Atlético Ottawa is the 2nd team with the least losses in a season, having only lost 5 times during the regular season in 2022. Cavalry is first with 4 losses in 2019). The club based in the nation's capital ranks 7th.

8. FC Edmonton

View FC Edmonton page

The Eddies no longer exist, but we still had to include them in this ranking. The Edmonton club was founded 13 years ago (February 9, 2010). Their first season was in 2011 in the NASL, where they finished 5th. Their best finish was in 2016, where they finished 3rd in the league. In the CPL, they finished 4th in the first year, but later ended up finishing last two times and second-last once.

9. York United FC

View York United FC page

York United ranks 9th. The Toronto-based club has made the CPL play-offs just once in their history (in 2021), where they were knocked out in the first round. They were the only CPL team left in the 2022 Canadian Championship semi-finals, where they lost to the Whitecaps.

10. HFX Wanderers

View HFX Wanderers FC page

The Wanderers have struggled in the CPL throughout the years, though they did reach the final in 2020, where they lost to Forge FC. Historically, they rank 7th in points per game in the CPL, only above the now-defunct FC Edmonton.

11. Valour FC

View Valour FC page

Valour ranks 11th. Valour, along with the Eddies, is the only CPL club to have never made the play-offs. Their best season came in 2022 when they finished 5th after accumulating 37 points.

12. Vancouver FC

View Vancouver FC page

It's hard to be anywhere but the bottom spot of a ranking when you have yet to play a single professional game. Come back next year, maybe!

The end.

?????? OUR CANADIAN CLUB SIZE RANKING! We ranked the 11 professional clubs from last year based on history, achievements, fans, & more.

It’s time to argue about your club’s ranking in the comments ??#CanPL | #TFCLive | #CFMTL | #VWFC pic.twitter.com/McmHPVVyy5

— CPL News ?????? (@canplnews) April 10, 2023