Global T20 Canada

The International Cricket Council (ICC) sanctioned the tournament in February 2018, and it is the first fully sanctioned T20 league in North America outside of the Caribbean.^[6] Canada's Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, was pleased with the ICC's decision to approve the league.^[7]

In May 2018, Cricket Canada announced that the inaugural edition of the tournament would be held from 28 June to 15 July at the Maple Leaf Cricket Club in King City, Ontario^[8] The Vancouver Knights won the tournament, beating West Indies B by seven wickets in the final.^[9]

The inaugural 2018 season was benefitted by the international suspensions of Australian players David Warner and Steve Smith, who were ineligible to represent Australia, and decided to ply their trade in the domestic Canadian competition.

The 2019 league was held at the Brampton Sports Park grounds by TD Cricket Arena in Brampton, Ontario from 25 July to 11 August.^[10] The second-round game between Montreal Tigers and Toronto Nationals on 7 August was delayed for two hours in a protest over unpaid wages; some pay issues dated back to the 2018 tournament. The protest occurred even though Toronto Nationals captain Yuvraj Singh's fundraiser for his YouWeCan Foundation, had been hosted two days earlier by League organizers.^[3]

The third season of the tournament, scheduled to be held in 2020, was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic to 2021.^[11] Originally planned to be played in Brampton,^[12] it was later announced that it would be held from 24 June to 11 July 2021^[13] in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia due to ongoing pandemic restrictions in Canada.^[14] Edmonton Royals were renamed as Surrey Jaguars.^[15] The 2021 tournament was ultimately cancelled "due to evolving concerns regarding COVID-19 and strict preventive measures taken by the Government of Malaysia to contain the spread of the pandemic."^[16]

The 2023 Global T20 Canada took place from 20 July to 6 August at the TD Cricket Arena by CAA Centre once again.^[17]

The 2024 Global T20 Canada took place from 25 July to 11 August at the TD Cricket Arena by CAA Centre as well.

On December 2024, Cricket Canada terminated its agreement with Bombay Sports for breach of contract.^[18] Cricket Canada president Amjad Bajwa claimed that "the organizers have often been late with their payments and we couldn’t carry on in this fashion. They always wanted us to obtain permission to set up the league for the following year before we received any back payment and I viewed this as a form of blackmail."^[19] On March 18, 2025, in spite of the terminated agreement announcement by Cricket Canada, GT20 League director Karan Singh stated, "we will see you in Toronto in the summer. There are multiple things going on right now and we basically do not accept the cancellation. This has left a bad taste in the mouth as there hasn’t even been a courtesy call from their end. I cannot say anything more as our legal counsels in Canada and India are handling the matter."^[20]

On April 14, 2025, Cricket Canada announced that they had awarded a long-term licensing deal to National Cricket League (NCL) Canada to operate the GT20 Canada tournament going forward.^[21] With the change in partner, Mayor Patrick Brown told CBC Toronto's Here and Now in July 2025 that Global T20 Canada would not take place that year, but that he hoped for the tournament to return in 2026.^[22]

In January 2026 it was announced that the tournament would return, being hosted in Toronto from July to August 2026.^[23]

Mediapro was appointed as "global consultant" for Global T20 Canada's media rights in 2019, handling aspects of world feed production and international distribution via its various regional subsidiaries. In 2019, the tournament's Canadian broadcast rights were held by Asian Television Network, with selected matches being televised by the mainstream sports channel TSN.^[24] For the 2023 season, the broadcast rights were acquired by CBC Sports, with all matches streaming on CBC Gem, and the CBC Television broadcast network also carrying the championship match.^[25]

Broadcasters for the 2023 season include:^[26][27]

• Euro T20 Slam, another tournament organized by Bombay Sports