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The 2026 regular season gets underway this weekend. Here are a few things to keep an eye on this year.

The 2026 Ontario Premier League season is here, with 52 men’s teams and 45 women’s sides set to compete across the three senior levels, plus 48 total teams in the U-20 competition.

The regular season starts this weekend in the men’s and women’s OPL 1 and 2, with OPL 3 and U-20 seasons slated to get going the following week.

There’s a lot to keep track of in this year’s OPL, but here are five major storylines to keep an eye on as the season kicks off.

How will the new teams fare?

This season, several newcomers will make their debuts in the Ontario Premier League system.

In OPL 1, watch out for International FC playing out of Thornhill. They’ve come straight into the top men’s division (and OPL 2 on the women’s side) after acquiring the license formerly held by Alliance United, and they have made some big swings to build their first squad. The men’s team has plenty of talent with Canadian Premier League experience, including Marki Voytsekhovskyy, as well as 2025 First Team All-Star Cyrus Rollocks and 2023 Midfielder of the Year Orlendis Benítez.

In OPL 3, both Kingston Sentinels and Richmond Hill SC have entered brand new teams in the men’s and women’s competitions. The two ambitious clubs will certainly be hoping their teams can climb the ladder as quickly as possible. In fact, Kingston has already taken an early step, as their women’s team knocked out Unionville Milliken SC in the OPL Cup.

Can Woodbridge continue to dominate?

By several measures, Woodbridge Strikers SC were the most dominant club in the OPL system in 2025. Their men’s first team won the top-flight championship, with the top two scorers in the league and four First Team All-Stars. Their U-20 West side won the summer U-20 competition.

In the women’s game, Woodbridge’s B team won OPL 3 (formerly League2 Ontario), as well as the U-20 league. Across the board, it was a strong year for the club.

The question now is, can they keep that up? The men’s first team will compete in the Canadian Championship this year against CPL team FC Supra du Québec. However, they’ll be doing so without Anthony Aromatario, who was the OPL’s MVP last year. He was a major part of the team’s rise to the top in 2025, but they’ll need somebody else to fill his shoes now.

Which promoted clubs will take the next step?

In addition to the expansion teams, we’ve got a few new faces in several leagues. In men’s OPL 1, recent expansion club Sudbury Cyclones have been promoted into the top flight for the first time alongside Unionville Milliken, while FC London went down to OPL 2.

Sudbury got off to a hot start in the OPL Cup with a win over Hamilton United, and Unionville routed OPL 3 side Kingston Sentinels 6-1, so they’ve both got a taste of victory but have yet to test themselves against top-flight competition.

Meanwhile, Scrosoppi FC have climbed into the women’s OPL 1 division for the first time. After winning the second flight title in their second season, they’ll be hoping to compete for silverware immediately.

Can anybody stop Simcoe in women’s OPL 1?

Last year was a historic one for Simcoe Country Rovers’ women’s team. They topped the table in OPL 1, then went on to the Inter-Provincial Championship where they took down Altitude FC and CS Mont-Royal Outremont to win a national title.

They had three OPL First Team All-Stars, including MVP and Golden Boot winner Alliyah Rowe, who was so dominant in 2025 that she may now have her sights set on a pro move. During the off-season, Simcoe continued to stack their squad, adding a few stars from last year’s second-place side North Toronto — including the Nitros’ leading scorer Ashley Campbell.

So, the question is: is the title Simcoe’s to lose? Or will somebody else take them down?

Their season begins away to North Toronto on Saturday, which could be a fiery clash.

Which players will take the next step up in the pathway?

Many of the players competing in the OPL have dreams of one day making the jump to the professional game, as so many have before them. Just in the past few months, several of last year’s standouts have moved on to the Canadian Premier League or Northern Super League.

From the men’s side, reigning MVP and ex-Woodbridge midfielder Anthony Aromatario moved to Forge FC, while Scrosoppi standout Tristan Marshall has joined Pacific FC. Tomasz Skublak, a First Team All-Star last year with Scrosoppi, is back in the CPL now with Inter Toronto.

Meanwhile, Samantha St. Croix, the reigning Goalkeeper of the Year from women’s OPL 1, became a major addition for the Halifax Tides, while NDC Ontario standout (and 2025 Second Team All-Star) Olivia Chisholm signed a full contract with AFC Toronto.

This year, players will be more motivated than ever to impress in the OPL, knowing that a professional side could soon come knocking.