In 2011, the Première ligue de soccer du Québec was established, marking the return of a semi-professional soccer league to the province for the first time in 20 years.[2][7] The league was sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association as a level 3 league, below Major League Soccer (level 1) and the North American Soccer League and United Soccer League (level 2), which were American-based fully professional leagues featuring some Canadian teams,[2] including the Montreal Impact of the MLS.
The league had its debut season in 2012 with a men's division featuring five teams – A.S. Blainville, FC Brossard, FC Boisbriand, FC L'Assomption, and FC Saint-Léonard.[8] FC Saint-Léonard won the inaugural season.[9] The following season, the league added a league cup to its schedule, the Coupe PLSQ, which would take place annually at the conclusion of the season, unrelated to the results of the regular season.[10] In 2014, the province of Ontario created its own semi-professional level 3 league, League1 Ontario,[11] and the Inter-Provincial Cup was established which would be contested between the champions of each league and ran for three years until 2016.[12] In 2015, the league added its first club from outside of the province of Quebec, with the Ottawa Fury FC Academy joining the league.[13]
Beginning in 2018, the league champion qualified to participate in the Canadian Championship for the following season.[14] In 2018, a women's division was added, starting with five teams.[15] The start of the 2020 season was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic,[16] but it ultimately resumed with a shortened season, although some teams opted out of playing for the season.[17] However, the remainder of the men's season was cancelled about three-quarters of the way through the season, due to a resurgence of the pandemic (the female season had already concluded).[18]
In 2022, the PLSQ joined League1 Canada along with League1 Ontario and League1 British Columbia. On April 19, 2023, the league rebranded to Ligue1 Québec to align with its partner leagues.[19] In 2024, it was announced that USL League Two club Vermont Green FC would host the reigning L1Q champion each year in a friendly each year, known as the Maple Cup.[20]
Competition format
Depending on the number of teams in the league, teams will play every other team between 2-4 times per season, for a length of usually between 15 and 20 games. The winner gets the regular season championship. Each team has a minimum of nine paid players and is subject to a salary cap.[citation needed]
Coupe L1QC
At the end of the year, there is a league cup, called the Coupe L1QC (formerly the Coupe PLSQ), which began in 2013. The format varies each season, depending on the number of teams in the league.[21] The most recent cup competition featured the top four teams from league play in a single-knockout tournament. In the past, the cup has also used a group stage and knockout format where three groups of three teams were formed, and the winner of each group along with the best second-place finisher advanced to the semi-finals.
^The season was cancelled before its conclusion, with the final standings determined on a points earned per game basis
^Originally 9 clubs were set to participate, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, three clubs withdrew from the season
^Ottawa South United withdrew midway through the season due to provincial government and cross-border restrictions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with 9 teams finishing the season
^Originally 8 clubs were set to participate, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, four clubs withdrew from the season
Men's Division
Over the course of its history, various clubs have joined and departed the league. A.S. Blainville is the only club to have participated in every season since the league's inception.[22] Blainville has been the most successful club, winning the league championship four times and the league cup twice and CS Mont-Royal Outremont has been second-most successful with four league championships and one league cup title.
Current clubs
The following eleven teams are members of the league for the 2024 season:
Players who earned national team caps while in the L1QC
The following players have earned a senior national team cap while playing in the L1QC (the year of their first cap while playing in the league is listed). Players who earned caps before or after playing in the L1QC are not included, unless they also earned caps while in the league. This section also does not include youth caps (U23 or below).
^CS Lanaudière-Nord was known as FC L'Assomption-Lanaudière from 2012 to 2015. They departed the league after 2015, returned in 2022, before again departing after 2023
^AS Laval was known as CS Monteuil until the 2021 season
^FC Laval was known as CS Fabrose until the 2020 season
References
^Chenoix, Eric (October 15, 2018). "L'avant 1911" [Before 1911]. Viau Park (in French).
Note: There is no clear information from CSA about tier of U.S. based leagues which have Canadian clubs. In terms of historical information, they have been deployed as tier 3 league as USSF have done.
