By Vijay Setlur

TORONTO - Toronto FC will begin defense of its Nutrilite Canadian Championship on April 28, hosting the Montreal Impact as it attempts to return to the CONCACAF Champions League.

Thursday's release of the 2010 tournament schedule comes nearly a month after the U.S. Soccer Federation sanctioned a merged league between the United Soccer Leagues and the offshoot North American Soccer League, which cleared the way for the competition to go forward.

With the Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact breaking away from the second-division USL to join the NASL, neither league was in position to gain the USSF's sanction.

Canadian Soccer Association General Secretary Peter Montopoli, however, was confident the third edition of the championship would go forward.

"The future of this competition was solid," he said. "Certainly we had the right to play this competition no matter what the resolution would be, so this competition was moving forward. So in our mind it was really not in doubt."

The three-team, six-game tournament will finish on June 2 with Toronto hosting Vancouver. The winner qualifies for the Preliminary Round of the Champions League, set to begin the final week of July.

"I've been in North America for over 20 years and been part of a U.S. (Open) Cup and in the U.S. Cup there's not really much passion and just being here and hearing about the Canadian Cup there seems to be a lot on the line," newly hired Toronto coach Preki said. "People are excited to watch the games and support the teams."

This will be Vancouver's final year to compete as a team from a second-division league. The club is set to join Toronto in Major League Soccer in 2011.

This year's schedule has all the games played on six consecutive Wednesdays, a move intended to improve television audiences.

Montreal won the inaugural tournament, parlaying that success into a surprising run to the Champions League quarterfinals. Last year, Toronto FC captured the title, but was eliminated from the Champions League by the USL's Puerto Rico Islanders in the Preliminary Round.

2010 Nutrilite Canadian Championship
Wednesday, April 28
Toronto FC vs. Montreal Impact
Wednesday, May 5
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Montreal Impact
Wednesday, May 12
Montreal Impact vs. Toronto FC
Wednesday, May 19
Vancouver Whitecaps FC vs. Toronto FC
Wednesday, May 26
Montreal Impact vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC
Wednesday, June 2
Toronto FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps FC