British Columbia Premier League

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British Columbia Premier League
Organising bodyBC Soccer Association
FoundedOctober 5, 2021 (2021-10-05)
First season2022
CountryCanada
ConfederationCONCACAF
Number of clubs8 (men's)
8 (women's)
Level on pyramid3
Domestic cup(s)Canadian Championship (men)
Interprovincial Championship (women)
Current championsLangley United (men)
Altitude FC (women)
(2025)
Current Juan de Fuca PlateAltitude FC
(2025)
Most championshipsTSS Rovers FC (2, men),
Vancouver Whitecaps Girls Elite (3, women)
Most Juan de Fuca PlatesWhitecaps FC Academy (3)
Broadcaster(s)Telus TV
Websiteleague1bc.ca
Current: 2026 BCPL season

The British Columbia Premier League (BCPL, formerly League1 British Columbia (L1BC)) is a semi-professional men's and women's soccer league in British Columbia, Canada. The league is sanctioned by the Canadian Soccer Association and the BC Soccer Association as a pro-am league in the Canadian soccer league system.

In the Canadian soccer league system, the men's division is behind the Canadian Premier League (CPL). It is part of Premier Soccer Leagues Canada, the national third tier with regional divisions, with equivalent leagues in Quebec, Ontario, Alberta, and the Prairies. The men's league champion qualifies for the Canadian Championship, the domestic cup championship, for the following season.

The semi-professional league was created to fill in the gap between the top amateur leagues in the province, such as the Pacific Coast Soccer League, Fraser Valley Soccer League, Vancouver Island Soccer League and Vancouver Metro Soccer League, with the professional top tier Canadian Premier League.[1][2]

History

BC Soccer originally looked into the possibility of starting a "Regional Tier 3" league in their 2016 Strategic Plan,[3] with the goal of beginning in 2018 with eight teams.[4] However, nothing came to fruition due to insufficient interest from clubs.[5][6] In June 2019, they announced their intention to begin play in 2021 with at least six clubs.[7] Teams would need to commit for three years minimum and field teams in both the male and female divisions.[5] The proposed league would be open to professional clubs fielding reserve sides, provided they are not branded with "Reserves" or "U-23" in their team name.[8][9]

In January 2021, the league was rumoured to be launching later that year with six or eight teams, including a development team from the Major League Soccer club Vancouver Whitecaps FC.[10] On October 5, 2021, the league was officially announced by BC Soccer to begin play in May 2022.[11][12] The inaugural league began on May 22, with the Championship Final occurring on August 1 (British Columbia Day), with seven clubs participating in the first season.[13][14] It was announced that with the creation of the league, the Juan de Fuca Plate, which was previously awarded to the top BC-based Premier Development League team in head-to-head matches, would now be awarded to the League1 BC club that accrued the greatest number of points across both the men's and women's divisions in an aggregate table.[15][16] In addition, a cedar trophy was created to be awarded to both the men's and women's division champions.[17] In November 2022, it was confirmed that the league winner would qualify for the following season's Canadian Championship, the national cup tournament.[18] For the 2023 season, the league announced its first expansion club (Harbourside FC) bringing the league up to eight clubs.[19]

On December 1, 2023, Canadian Soccer Business acquired L1BC from BC Soccer. CSB have owned League1 Ontario since 2018 and now oversee the day-to-day operations of both leagues.[20] For the 2024 season, another expansion club joined, however, two original clubs withdrew from the league, bringing the total back to seven. For 2025, two additional clubs joined, bringing the league to nine clubs.[21]

In January 2026, the league re-branded as the British Columbia Premier League, in line with a move across all the leagues in Canada.[22] In April 2026, they announced, in partnership with the Fraser Valley Soccer League, a new fall/winter division for BCPL license holders, they would operate a fall/winter division under the FVSL umbrella, although the BCPL will retain sole authority over the competition model, the establishment of match-day standards, and technical direction and club licensing criteria, to maintain alignment with the BCPL's high-performance standards from the spring/summer season which will continue.[23]

Competition format

The BCPL regular season lasts approximately four months, from early April to late July. Teams play each other team home and away for a total of 14 matches in 2026. The regular season champion and runner-up advance to a single match final where the winner is crowned finals champion.

Seasons

2022–2024: league championship decided by playoffs

Season Teams Men's division Women's division Juan de Fuca Plate
League champions Runner-up League champions Runner-up
2022 7 TSS Rovers FC Varsity FC1 Whitecaps FC Girls Elite Varsity FC1 Varsity FC
2023 8 Whitecaps FC Academy Victoria Highlanders FC1 Whitecaps FC Girls Elite1 Unity FC Whitecaps FC Academy
2024 7 TSS Rovers FC1 Altitude FC Whitecaps FC Girls Elite1 Burnaby FC Whitecaps FC Academy

^1 – First place in regular season

2025- : league championship decided by regular season

Season Teams League champions Juan de Fuca Plate
Men's division Women's division
2025 9 Langley United Altitude FC Altitude FC
2026 8 To be determined

Clubs

As of 2026 there are 8 teams are members of the league, of which six are based in Greater Vancouver, one on Vancouver Island, and one in the province's interior. All teams compete in both the men's and women's divisions of the league.[24]

British Columbia
About OpenStreetMaps
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90km
56miles
Vancouver
Britsh Columbia Premier League Metro Vancouver
Metro Vancouver
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12km
7.5miles
British Columbia Premier League

British Columbia Premier League

The league has 8 teams participating in the 2026 season.

As of May 8, 2026
Team City Stadium Capacity Founded Debut
Current teams
Altitude FC North Vancouver Kinsmen Park 700 2021 2022
Burnaby FC Burnaby Burnaby Lake Sports Complex West 1000 2023 2024
Langley United FC Langley Willoughby Community Park 1000 1926 2025
Kamloops United FC Kamloops Hillside Stadium 1060 2021 2022
Nanaimo United FC Nanaimo Q'unq'inuqwstuxw Stadium 1500 2022 2023
TSS FC Rovers Burnaby Swangard Stadium 5,288 1997 2022
Unity FC Surrey Cloverdale Athletic Park 2000 2021 2022
Whitecaps FC Academy Vancouver (UBC) Thunderbird Stadium 3500 2007 2022

Timeline

Former clubs

Former clubs
TeamCityStadiumFirst seasonLast season
Nautsa’mawt FC[a] UBC Campus[b] Thunderbird Stadium 2022 2023
Victoria Highlanders FC Saanich Centennial Stadium 2022 2023
Evolution FC Coquitlam Percy Perry Stadium 2025
  1. Nautsa’mawt FC was known as Varsity FC in 2022
  2. Based on the campus of the University of British Columbia. The campus is part of the unincorporated Metro Vancouver Electoral Area A and is located just west of the City of Vancouver proper.

L1BC clubs in other competitions

Men

SeasonClubCompetitionResultRecord
2022 No competition held
2023 TSS Rovers FC Canadian Championship Quarter-finals 1–0–1
2024 TSS Rovers FC[a] Canadian Championship Preliminary round 0–1–0
2025 TSS Rovers FC Canadian Championship Preliminary round 0–0–1
2026 Langley United Canadian Championship Preliminary round 0–0–1
  1. Victoria Highlanders FC originally qualified but withdrew before the tournament began.

Women

SeasonClubCompetitionResultRecord
2022 Varsity FC Interprovincial Championship 4th 0–1–1[a]
2023 Whitecaps FC Girls Elite Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup W 1–3–1[b]
Inter-provincial Championship W 2–0–0
Unity FC 3rd 1–0–1
2024 Whitecaps FC Girls Elite Inter-provincial Championship W 1–1–0[c]
2025 Altitude FC Inter-provincial Championship 4th 0–1-1
  1. The 1 draw was a penalty shoot-out loss.
  2. The 3 draws include 2 penalty shoot-out wins in the knockout stages.
  3. The 1 draw was a penalty shoot-out win.

See also

References

  1. Doyle, Jeff (April 15, 2020). "The future of the BC soccer pyramid". Away From the Numbers.
  2. Gray, Shawn (March 8, 2017). "BC Regional Tier 3: March Update". Northern Starting XI.
  3. Gray, Shawn (January 17, 2017). "BC Soccer RT3: New Division-3 coming to BC". Northern Starting XI. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  4. Gray, Shawn (April 4, 2017). "BCRT3: Where do BC's PDL teams stand?". Northern Starting XI. Archived from the original on August 7, 2022. Retrieved December 4, 2020.
  5. Notenboom, Rob (January 21, 2020). "League 1 BC Approaching Critical Moment". Northern Starting XI. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  6. "BC Soccer Provides Update on Proposed Regional Tier 3 League". British Columbia Soccer Association. June 27, 2019. Archived from the original on October 6, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  7. Jacques, John (June 29, 2019). "What We Know About BC's Proposed New League So Far". Northern Tribune.
  8. "League One British Columbia (L1BC)" (PDF). BC Soccer. British Columbia Soccer Association. June 27, 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 9, 2021. Retrieved November 14, 2020.
  9. Rupert, Alex (February 23, 2021). "L'avènement d'une nouvelle ligue : La BC League 1" [The advent of a new league: The BC League 1]. Culture Soccer (in French).
  10. Jacques, John (January 30, 2021). "Is League1 BC Starting This Year?". Northern Tribune.
  11. "BC Soccer officially launches League1 British Columbia". BC Soccer. October 5, 2021. Archived from the original on April 4, 2022. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  12. Jacques, John (October 5, 2021). "League1 BC Officially Announced, Launching Next Year". Northern Tribune.
  13. @League1BC (February 11, 2022). "100 DAY COUNTDOWN! League1BC kicks off its inaugural season on May 22, 2022!" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  14. Jacques, John (October 6, 2021). "Six Big Things To Know About League1 BC". Northern Tribune.
  15. "About the Juan de Fuca Plate". Juan de Fuca Plate. Retrieved July 10, 2022.
  16. Steiner, Ben (July 9, 2022). "L1BC Weekend Preview and Power Rankings". 49 Sport.
  17. "League1 BC presented by HALL unveils trophies for August 1st Finals". BC Soccer. July 27, 2022.
  18. Jacques, John (November 3, 2022). "League1 BC Announced As New Entrant In Canadian Championship". Northern Tribune.
  19. "League1 BC welcomes Harbourside Football Club as newest license holder, and first ever expansion team". League1 BC. October 19, 2022. Archived from the original on October 21, 2022. Retrieved August 11, 2024.
  20. "League1 BC acquired by Canadian Soccer Business". Canadian Premier League. December 1, 2023. Retrieved December 2, 2023.
  21. "No longer the "White Brick Road": League1 BC providing pathways for aspiring local players". Vancouver FC. August 3, 2024.
  22. "Premier Soccer Leagues Canada Unveils New Identity Reflecting the Heart of Canada's Domestic Pathway". Canadian Premier League. January 27, 2026. Retrieved January 27, 2026.
  23. "British Columbia Premier League Adopts Year-Round Model Through New Fall/Winter Competition in Partnership with Fraser Valley Soccer League". British Columbia Premier League. April 24, 2026.
  24. "League1 BC". League1 British Columbia.