Première Ligue de soccer du Québec
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| Country | Canada |
|---|---|
| Confederation | CONCACAF |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Divisions | 1 |
| Number of teams | 7 |
| Level on pyramid | 3 |
| League cup(s) | Coupe de la Ligue |
| Current champions |
Mont-Royal Outremont (2016) |
| Current cup champions |
Blainville (2016) |
| TV partners | RDS.ca (Webdiffusion) |
| Website | Première Ligue de soccer du Québec website |
 2017 PLSQ season
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The Première Ligue de soccer du Québec (PLSQ) is a professional soccer league created in 2012 and organized by the Quebec Soccer Federation, the third tier of the Canadian soccer pyramid. The Canadian Soccer Association relies on provincial soccer organizations to sanction regional leagues at the tier 3 level behind NASL and MLS and stands alongside League1 Ontario and United Soccer League. The league commissioner is Kambiz Ebadi.
Before the Second World War, soccer was more of a fringe activity than today; however, the best clubs in Quebec were determined in a provincial championship with the winner facing his Ontario counterpart for the title of the "National League". All the players were not amateurs; in 1934, for example, 27 professionals were identified in Quebec. The war brought a halt to Quebec's semi-professional soccer league development.
Mass immigration of quality players and ambitious leaders in the 1950s allowed Quebec to have many semi-professional teams, and even some professional clubs until the early 1960s. Organizational and competitive disagreements including unhealthy rivalries coupled with slowing immigration reduced the number of skilled young local players taking over from their predecessors. The player pool shrank.
Beginning in 1986, the semi-professional LNSQ (National Soccer League Quebec), stirred passions by creating very good memories. However, at that time the pool of players was not large enough to allow the LNSQ to survive alongside a professional team. The arrival of the Montreal Supra, with all the best players and a much greater media profile was fatal to the fledgling league which lost its splendour before giving way to today’s LSEQ .
In 2011 there are 200,000 players, 300 clubs, 25,000 coaches, 7,000 officials, 50,000 volunteers: soccer is by far the most practised sport in Quebec, and is experiencing unparalleled popularity throughout the province.
The organization of soccer in Quebec has changed dramatically with the recent competitions reform conducted by the Federation helping to modernize and stabilize the soccer pyramid, but also to considerably raise standards.
For several years, the senior level teams of the LSEQ (Quebec Elite Soccer League) inquired about a semi-professional competition.
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