The Canadian Baseball League (CBL) is a professionalindependent baseball league based in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is composed of nine teams, who annually play a home-and-away season from May to August. The top five teams at the end of the season qualify for a postseason tournament in September that determines the league's champion, who are awarded the Dominico Cup.
The league was founded in 1919 as the Intercounty Baseball League (IBL), and was a semi-professional league for the majority of its existence. It was fully-professionalized and rebranded to the CBL ahead of its 2026 season. More than 23 franchises have competed in the league in its 107-year history, with the Guelph Royals and Kitchener Panthers – both charter members – being the longest-tenured. As of its 2025 season, the Welland Jackfish are the current champions, while the Stratford Nationals, a defunct franchise, have won the most championships (16).
History
The Intercounty Baseball League (IBL) was founded in 1919 with just four cities represented — Galt, Guelph, Stratford and Kitchener, and is the oldest amateur men's league in Canada.[1] During the early years, the league expanded to include the cities of Waterloo, Brantford, Preston, London, and St. Thomas.
It was previously known as the Intercounty Major Baseball League and the Senior Intercounty Baseball League. Teams compete for the Jack and Lynne Dominico Trophy, which is awarded to the league champions. The trophy is named for the late owners of the Toronto Maple Leafs baseball team, husband and wife Jack and Lynne Dominico.
On December 3, 2024, the Toronto Maple Leafs announced they had signed Ayami Sato, making her the first female player in the league as well as the first female player chosen to play professional baseball in Canada.[2] She began playing on May 11, 2025.[3]
In 2025, IBL commissioner Ted Kalnins stated that league was transitioning from being a semi-professional to fully professional league and would be expanding to a total of 10 teams as a part of that effort.[4] In addition to being a fully professional league, the league would now be known as the Canadian Baseball League and see the amount of regular season games played increase from 42 to 48, as well as a 5-team playoff structure. Further changes to the league are set to be announced in by the end of 2025.[5]
Labatt Park in London, Ontario, home of the London Majors.
All-Star Game
On July 8, 2006, in Barrie, the league's New Era IBL All-Star Classic game between the Barrie Baycats and the IBL All-Stars; Barrie won 7–2.
On November 24, 2025, the league announced that, beginning with the 2026 season, the league would be changing its name from the Intercounty Baseball League, which had been in use since the league's founding in 1919, to the Canadian Baseball League. The change was made due, in part, to the growing popularity of the league across the country, as well as the move from its former semi-professional standing to a fully professional structure. The league also announced that it would be expanding its regular season from 42 games to 48, and setting the number of playoff teams at five.
Under the new playoff system, the fourth- and -fifth place teams will play in a win-or-go-home one-game playoff, followed by the remaining teams playing in two best-of-seven series to determine the winner of the Dominico Cup.[8]
Each team is subject to a quota of eight foreign players, a maximum salary of CA$4,000, and a salary cap of CA$30,000; though no salary floor is enforced.[13][14][15] While selection for a CBL squad makes a player ineligible to play in an NCAA team, they are still eligible to play in an OUA or OCAA team.[15]
The postseason championship team is awarded the Jack and Lynne Dominico Cup[21].
Other awards presented include:
John Coppes Trophy – Awarded to the team with the best record in the regular season.
Max Roseman Memorial Trophy – Awarded to the player deemed the Most Valuable Player of the postseason.
John Bell Memorial Trophy (formerly the Rawlings IBL Player of the Year Award) – Awarded to the player deemed the Most Valuable Player of the regular season.
Brian Kerr Memorial Trophy (formerly the IBL Rookie of the Year Award) – Awarded to the most proficient first year CBL player.
Reid Buck Memorial Trophy – Awarded to the hitter with the regular season's best batting average.
Ted Earley Memorial Trophy – Awarded to the pitcher with the regular season's lowest Earned Run Average.
Troy May Memorial Trophy – Awarded to the best manager of the regular season.
↑Cosovic, Aleksa (May 9, 2025). "Intercounty Baseball League gaining ground". BNN Bloomberg. Although it is characterized as a semi-professional league on paper, the players who have come through the IBL's ranks have certainly blurred the lines. ... "We're now transitioning into a fully professional league, and as part of that, I'd like to add a 10th team. Expanding to 10 teams would allow us to grow our geographic footprint and create two divisions of five – which would help with travel savings and scheduling," said Kalnins.
12Mercer, Greg (February 23, 2018). "A century of baseball: New book to celebrate IBL history". Waterloo Region Record. Archived from the original on March 10, 2026. Retrieved March 10, 2026. Back in that inaugural season in 1919, the Panthers were known as the Kitchener McBrines [...] Their name would evolve a lot over the next century, from the Panthers to the Wolves, Bluetops, Legionnaires, Dutchmen and back to the Panthers again.
↑Franke, Bernd (June 12, 2023). "Jackfish win ninth game in a row". Welland Tribune. Archived from the original on March 10, 2026. Retrieved March 10, 2026. A franchise that dates back to 2000, when it was founded as the St. Thomas Storm, also played in Stratford and Mississauga before moving to Burlington in 2011.
↑Mawhood, Rod (September 19, 2023). "Jackfish crowned IBL Champs". The Niagara Independent. Archived from the original on March 10, 2026. Retrieved March 10, 2026.
↑"Awards". www.cbl.ca. September 14, 2025. Retrieved December 31, 2025.
