The WNBA is making history this season by planting its flag outside the U.S. for the first time—and it's no surprise they chose Canada. The Toronto Tempo tip off their inaugural season as the league's first international franchise, bringing professional women's basketball to a country that has quietly been a powerhouse pipeline for decades.
Long before the Tempo called Toronto home, Canadian players were making their mark in the WNBA. Kelly Boucher blazed the trail as the first Canadian to compete in the league, suiting up for the Charlotte Sting in 1998. Just a few years later, Stacey Dales became the highest-drafted Canadian when the Washington Mystics selected her third overall in 2002.
"I think back to when I was growing up, the WNBA wasn't even on TV in Canada," said Portland's Bridget Carleton, who hails from the Great White North. "So to have a team in Toronto, in our country, is just surreal. The young kids are really excited for it—to have access to that and just women's sports being more visible, so it's exciting."
The expansion feels like a long-overdue homecoming. This past season alone, nearly 150 Canadians suited up for Division I college rosters, including South Carolina's Agot Makeer, who emerged as a breakout star during the NCAA Tournament. The 2026 WNBA draft saw three Canadians selected—marking the fourth consecutive year a Canadian player heard her name called—and coming just shy of the record four picks in 2016.
Kia Nurse, who grew up just 45 minutes from Toronto, has a front-row seat to the movement. She watched the NBA's Toronto Raptors transform men's basketball in Canada and sees the same potential for the Tempo on the women's side.
"We can now field an Olympic men's team with just NBA players," Nurse said. "In the next 10-15 years of the Tempo being in Canada, we'll be able to field a women's national team in Canada with WNBA players."
Nurse is one of three Canadians who played in the WNBA last season and is the lone Canadian on the Tempo's roster. The homecoming has been electric. "The welcome I got from the fans was so amazing," she said. "The first preseason game to see my parents and friends and a bunch of people—it was incredible."
For young athletes across Canada, the message is clear: the dream is closer than ever. And with the Tempo leading the charge, the future of women's basketball north of the border has never looked brighter.