Pro women's soccer initiative is a huge step forward for women's sports in Canada

This is a column by Shireen Ahmed, who writes opinion for CBC Sports.  For more information about  CBC's Opinion section , please see the  FAQ .

On Wednesday morning, Canada woke up to the news that Toronto would be home to the newest professional soccer club in North America, when AFC Toronto City announced it would be joining the Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Calgary Foothills in the women's league expected to begin play in 2025.

Diana Matheson, a former member of Canada's women's team and an Olympic bronze medallist, is the co-founder and CEO of Project 8, the company that has been building the league from the ground up. Hailing from Oakville, where she grew up playing in her local organizations, Matheson said the "the sky's the limit" for AFC in Canada's largest city. 

The kind of news you want to wake up to!! ⏰ <br><br>Toronto named 3rd franchise in Canadian women's pro soccer league set to start in 2025, joining Vancouver and Calgary. <br><br>⁦<a href="https://twitter.com/Project8Sports?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Project8Sports</a>⁩ also announces another new sponsor. Big things brewing <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/itstime?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#itstime</a> <a href="https://t.co/DnJvyAGguF">https://t.co/DnJvyAGguF</a>

A professional women's team in Toronto is a long time coming, and a domestic professional league should have been established eons ago. Matheson said they are "on track" for the league to begin play in two years, and expect to get membership with Canada Soccer at its general meeting next week in New Brunswick.

Matheson said the intention is to have all eight teams for the league by the end of 2023. While pursuit of ownership in regions across the country is definitely a