Toronto is getting a professional women's soccer team

Bob Frid/ Canada Soccer

Toronto is getting a new professional soccer team.

On Wednesday, it was announced that Toronto will be home to a professional women’s soccer team in the coming years as part of a new domestic league, with all of the teams competing being based in Canada.

The team’s name will be AFC Toronto City, with kickoff in the eight-team league set for 2025.

“Toronto. We’re here,” the team’s official Twitter account posted on Wednesday morning. “Alongside Project 8, we’re powering up women’s soccer in Canada. A.F.C. Toronto City will now be the third founding team for Canada’s women’s professional soccer league, kicking off in 2025.”

Toronto’s leadership group is headed up by CEO Helena Ruken, COO Brenda Ha and Chief Marketing Officer Jill Burgin.

Toronto. We’re here.

Alongside @project8sports, we’re powering up women’s soccer in Canada. A.F.C. Toronto City will now be the 3rd founding team for Canada's women's professional soccer league, kicking off in 2025.

Follow us & @project8sports for our launch later this year. pic.twitter.com/KeIivtdaqB

— AFC Toronto City (@AFC_TorontoCity) April 26, 2023

Calgary and Vancouver had previously been announced as markets for the league in December.

Along with the Vancouver Whitecaps FC, Calgary Foothills Soccer Club has also committed to bringing a team to Alberta.

The initiative is largely a player-led one, as it’s headed up by Canadian national team legends Christine Sinclair and Diana Matheson, as well as business partner Thomas Gilbert.

“The whole idea behind this is to aim high. And like, if you’re not, what’s the point?” Sinclair said in a CBC interview with The National‘s Adrienne Arsenault when the league was initially announced.

AFC Toronto City has yet to announce their home stadium.

One possible site could be the proposed 8,000-seat soccer-specific stadium on the grounds of the 684-acre land at Woodbine Racetrack in Etobicoke.

“We have been so proud to invest in the future of Canadian soccer in recent years and a high-performance training centre and stadium is perfect for what is to come as we see the women’s game poised to take giant leaps across the county,” said York United Chairman and Greenpark Group Executive Michael Baldassarra in a statement last March. “This would also be an ideal site for Canada’s first women’s professional club, and I could see the wider community getting such a wide variety of uses from a facility like this.”

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There's a new professional women's soccer league coming to Canada