Canada Soccer has announced four new National Youth Club Licence holders in Ontario.

The announcement of FC Durham, Kingston United, Rush Canada and Sigma FC follows the initial cohort of 39 National Youth Club Licence holders in July 2019 and their acceptance into the Ontario Player Development League for 2020-2021.

Ontario organizations now represent 60% of the total number of National Youth Club Licenses across the country. Organizations are granted the National Youth Club Licence for a period of two years and have created a collaborative work plan to ensure that they continue to meet the requirements and progress to further achieve the standards set by Canada Soccer.

National Youth Club Licence holders display characteristics and demonstrate behaviours aligned with the highest expectations of governance, administration, infrastructure, and technical. License Holders support their Provincial and Territorial Member Association and Canada Soccer Pathways and must participate in standards-based leagues in their Province or Territory.

The announcement of the National Youth Club Licenses completes the application cycle initiated with the OPDL RFP in February 2019. The Ontario organizations which applied to Provincial 2, Provincial 1 and Quality Soccer Provider have entered the final stage of assessment of the application process initiated in March 2019.

Announcements of the successful organizations to these levels are scheduled to be announced in the near future.

Canada Soccer’s Club Licensing Program was launched in 2017 with the Canada Soccer Professional Club Licence. Canada Soccer announced the expansion of the program to youth soccer in 2018 in collaboration with Provincial and Territorial Association Members and incorporating international best practices.

More information on the Canada Soccer Club Licensing Program can be found at: https://www.canadasoccer.com/overview-s17342