York Lions Stadium is an outdoor sports stadium on the Keele Campus of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,000 faculty and sta ...

in the former city of

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a po ...

. It is home to the

York Lions The York Lions is the official name for the athletic varsity teams that represent York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's varsity teams compete in the Ontario University Athletics conference of U Sports and, where applicable ...

, the

varsity team In most English-speaking countries, varsity is an abbreviation of the word ''university''. In the United States and Canada, the term is mostly used in relation to sports teams. Varsity in the United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, varsity team ...

s of

, the

Toronto Arrows Toronto Arrows R.F.C. is a rugby union club based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that plays in Major League Rugby. The Arrows team is an independent off-shoot of the Ontario Blues provincial programme and is funded by a group of private investors ...

Major League Rugby Major League Rugby (MLR or USMLR) is a professional rugby union competition and the top-level championship for clubs in North America. In the 2022 season it was contested by thirteen teams: twelve from the United States and one from Canada. Off ...

and

York United York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. His ...

of the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; french: Première ligue canadienne, links=no) is a professional men's soccer league in Canada. At the top of the Canadian soccer league system, it is the country's primary national soccer league compe ...

. The facility was primarily built for the 2015 Pan American and

Parapan American Games The Parapan American Games is an international multi-sport event for athletes with physical disabilities held every four years after every Pan American Games. The first Games were held in 1999 in Mexico City, Mexico. The 2003 Parapan American Ga ...

, where it hosted

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

events and the opening ceremony. In 2021, the stadium's

running track An all-weather running track is a rubberized, artificial running surface for track and field athletics. It provides a consistent surface for competitors to test their athletic ability unencumbered by adverse weather conditions. Historically, v ...

was removed to expand the playing surface used for

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

and

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

History

Initial plans had a multi-purpose athletics and soccer stadium to be built somewhere in the vicinity of

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of ...

; however, the final plans separated the soccer and athletics venues. The soccer stadium, Tim Hortons Field, was built on the site of

Ivor Wynne Stadium Ivor Wynne Stadium (formerly Civic Stadium) was a Canadian football stadium located at the corner of Balsam and Beechwood avenues, two blocks west of Gage Avenue North in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The stadium was the home of the Hamilton Tiger ...

, while the athletics stadium was built at York University. During the games the venue was known as the ''CIBC Pan Am and Parapan Am Athletics Stadium.'' The stadium was expected to seat approximately 5,000 spectators – 3,000 permanent and 2,000 temporary. During the games an additional 7,500 temporary seats were added, bringing total capacity to 12,500.TO2015 officially breaks ground on new athletics stadium at York University
The facility cost roughly $45.5 million, with $34.9 million attributed to the design and construction with the rest for running costs. On May 26, 2016, it was announced that the stadium would play host to the

2017 North American Indigenous Games The 2017 North American Indigenous Games were held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada July 16 to 23. The event featured 5,000 athletes aged 13 to 19 in 14 sports. Bidding process The 2017 North American Indigenous Games bidding process began on Janua ...

. The stadium will be the site of the opening and closing ceremonies as well as the

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competi ...

competitions in July 2017. In the same year, the stadium was also used as an event facility for the Invictus Games. In early 2021, the stadium's track and grass field was replaced with a larger FIFA and World Rugby certified

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commerc ...

surface. The renovations also allow for the playing surface to be covered with an air-supported dome during winter months.

Professional sports

The

, a professional rugby union club which joined

in 2019, played exhibition games in 2018 at York Lions Stadium. However, during its inaugural 2019 MLR season the team split its home games between Alumni Field and Lamport Stadium. They began hosting their games at York Lions Stadium in 2022.

York United FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. His ...

, a soccer team in the

, has played their home games at York Lions Stadium since their inaugural season in 2019.

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, who play in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as wel ...

, a soccer team in

MLS Next Pro MLS Next Pro is a men's professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that is affiliated with Major League Soccer. It launched in 2022 with 21 teams and will expand to 28 in 2023. The league comprises 27 reserve sides for MLS clubs ...

, began playing their home games at York Lions Stadium in 2022.

Major competitions hosted

Gallery

York Lions Stadium during the 2015 Pan Am Games.jpg, The stadium in 2015 York Lions Stadium photo by Djuradj Vujcic.jpg, The stadium in 2021 York Lions Stadium panoramic photo by Djuradj Vujcic.jpg, A panoramic of the stadium in 2021

References

External links