It is widely acknowledged that professional structures for women’s football at the highest level have long struggled to establish themselves in North America. In the case of the United States, despite years of success for the US women’s national team, it has taken several attempts to build a sustainable professional league. However, since 2013, the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), which was launched following earlier projects such as the WUSA and WPS, has been making headlines with new investors, top rankings, one transfer record after another and even stadiums built specifically for women’s teams.

Until the beginning of this year, professional female footballers in Canada were unable to find a suitable place in their own country to pursue their passion and continue their careers at a high level. However, this changed with the introduction of the Northern Super League (NSL), which began play on 16 April 2025.

League structure- strong core for future adaptability

The introduction of the NSL saw the creation of Canada’s first independent professional women’s football league. The founders view the league as a start-up consisting of the league itself and the six founding clubs. The aim is to increase initial investment through a combination of growing awareness, sponsors and attractive football.

Current list of participating clubs in the NSL (find current standings here):

• Montreal Roses FC
• Vancouver Rise FC
• AFC Toronto
• Ottawa Rapid FC
• Calgary Wild FC
• Halifax Tides FC

The league kicked off on 16 April with a 1-0 win for Vancouver against Calgary in front of 14,018 spectators. A few days later, that number was surpassed when Montreal defeated Toronto 1-0 on the road, drawing 14,518 spectators. The attendances currently stands at an average of 4,500 per game with over 1.5 million viewers across Canada (read here how these numbers compare to other top leagues).

Currently in week 8 of the championship, the Montreal Roses sit at the top of the NSL table, closely followed by Vancouver Rise, who are just behind them on goal difference. With the exception of Halifax Tides, it is a tightly packed table, which promises many more thrilling games as the season progresses.

The Formula to success

Although the league is technically still in its infancy, there are already a number of stars, both on and off the pitch. For exmaple, Quinn is not only a player who won gold with the Canadian national team at the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo, but also an open role model as a non-binary person in women’s football, now playing for Vancouver. Former Arsenal assistant coach Lydia Bedford is now in charge of Calgary Wild. Desiree Scott, who played 187 games for Canada, plays for Ottawa Rapid. And the list goes on.

Not to be forgotten are the people behind the scenes: Diana Matheson, founder and Chief Growth Officer of the Northern Super League. The former professional footballer and Olympic bronze medallist spent a great deal of time after her active career considering the best approach to this project.

The key lies in placing a special emphasis on the business perspective in order to avoid mistakes of the past. “In the past, it wasn’t treated like a business; there was no investment, no marketing, and people complained”, Matheson told us on ‘The Rise of Women’s Football’ podcast. “No one saw it because it wasn’t visible anywhere.”

During the planning process, several approaches had to be considered in order to bring Canadian professional football to the forefront. These included ideas of integrating teams into the NWSL, establishing a smaller regional league over several years and growing it – or immediately founding a high-quality national league.

Data from other professional women’s leagues and competitions, which had been collected and analysed over many years, played a vital role in this. The factors of visibility and public perception stood out in particular – growing structures that can be achieved through television broadcasts. Matheson describes this as “big arrows pointing to the fact that this was a growing industry. If you treated it like a business, it grew”.

“We’ve got the numbers. We can be in that top tier of conversation for women’s pro leagues.” – Diana Matheson

Future plans already IN PLACE

Compared to other markets, Canada sees high participation rates among girls and women in sport and is attracting increased attention from sponsors looking to strengthen their presence in these areas. In addition, the Canadian women’s national team and its players have built up a broad fan base thanks to successes such as winning the 2020 Olympic gold medal and hosting the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

Last but not least, we must not forget the role played by Christine Sinclair, who became an icon of women’s football before she even retired. Sinclair still holds the record for the most goals scored by a player in a national team jersey – men and women combined.

The successful launch of the NSL marks the beginning of a new era for women’s football in North America, one that is and will be shaped by current and former players. ‘We value continuing the legacy and developing the sport for future generations. We want to leave the sport in a better place”, emphasises Matheson.

The vision for the coming years is clear: building fanbase while also growing attendance and broadcast numbers. On top of that, two more teams will be added in 2027.

“We are already one of the best international professional leagues for women, exactly where we want to be”, Matheson states. “We believe that Canada belongs there and deserves to be there, considering our pool of players and the talent we have. And we will continue to build on that starting this year.”

Text: Adriana Wehrens