MLS Odds: How will schedule change impact CF Montreal, Toronto FC and Vancouver Whitecaps?

Major League Soccer announced a major change for 2027, with the league voting to get rid of the current February to December schedule and adopt the European calendar.

Here’s what you need to know about the schedule change and the impact it will have on Canada’s three MLS teams, CF Montreal, Toronto FC and the Vancouver Whitecaps.

Schedule change

Play is now set to begin in the summer and run until May. Starting in 2027-28, the regular season will run from July to April, with a winter break in December and January. The playoffs are scheduled for May 2028.

The move is designed to prevent the MLS playoffs being interuppted by international breaks, which is currently happening right now. Canada’s only playoff team this year, Vancouver, finished the first round of the playoffs on Nov. 1 and they don’t face LAFC in the conference semifinals until Nov. 22.

“The calendar shift is one of the most important decisions in our history,” MLS commissioner Don Garber said in a statement.

“Aligning our schedule with the world’s top leagues will strengthen our clubs’ global competitiveness, create better opportunities in the transfer market, and ensure our Audi MLS Cup Playoffs take centre stage without interruption. It marks the start of a new era for our league and for soccer in North America.”

The 2026 season will continue with the current winter-winter format, before MLS moves to a “transition season” from February to May 2027.

The transition season includes a 14-game regular season followed by playoffs and the MLS Cup. Those results will determine which clubs qaulify for the Canadian Championship, the U.S. Open Cup, Leagues Cup and the CONCACAF Champions Cup.

Canadian clubs’ concerns

The schedule change immediately raised questions and concerns about how it will impact northern MLS teams, particularly CF Montreal and Toronto FC. The Vancouver Whitecaps shouldn’t be impacted by the weather as they play in a dome at BC Place.

However, despite the change in the start and end dates of the season, the league says about 91 per cent of games will be played in the same window, including cold-weather months, according to Garber.

“Our northern teams will be impacted far more than certainly our southern teams were,” Garber said.

“But our southern teams were very impacted by playing games in Texas and in Florida, parts of the United States that were super hot during the summer window. Overall, our owners are very committed to being one of the top leagues in the world.”

Toronto FC

TFC released a statement on Thursday saying the team will work with MLS to make sure the schedule change works for everyone.

“To be sure, the calendar change discussion also raised challenges related to the weather for a number of the league’s most northern-based teams, but we are confident in the efforts that have been made, and will remain a priority for the entire league, to address it,” the club said.

“It was our view that the benefits to the future league product outweighed the potential challenges.”

Vancouver Whitecaps

The Vancouver Whitecaps were very optimistic about the schedule change. Axel Schuester, chief executive officer and sporting director for the Whitecaps, called the move a milestone moment in the history of our league.

“We view this as an overwhelmingly positive step for the growth of the sport across our continent, bringing us more in line with the major leagues around the world,” he said.

CF Montreal

CF Montreal president and CEO Gabriel Gervais is scheduled to speak with reporters regarding the changes on Friday.

While Gerber did not say exactly how the votes for the calendar turned out, he did say there was overwhelming support for the move, more than he expected.