According to data compiled from Soccerway.com ahead of last weekend’s MLS games, 17 Canadians have appeared in MLS this season for a total of 12,926 minutes. (The number actually drops to 11,601 minutes if we subtract the 1,325 contributed by Tesho Akindele, who has yet to appear in a Canada jersey and was only included in the original tally due to extreme charity.) That compares with 14 Jamaica-eligible players who have played a total of 14,047 minutes. The Jamaica roster for the friendly has has 4 MLSers on it, compared with eight for Canada. Jamaica’s MLS contingent for this match has logged 3,855 minutes this season compared to 3,835 for the guys wearing red.
Other middling Concacaf powers from Central America are also well represented in MLS, if not at quite the same level as the Jamaican ones. But the common thread is that these players from other Concacaf nations largely arrive in North America after developing within their domestic club structure. MLS clubs are likely more willing to commit minutes to these guys if they are occupying a limited international position. Whereas Canadians bubbling up through the Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal academy systems are filling the required roster spots but struggling to win more first-team minutes.
Canada clearly needs some form of Division II developmental league. And yes, MLS is a growing league that increasingly attracts top global talent. That's a good thing. At some point the roster requirements may disappear altogether for U.S. players, and at that point the league and its clubs in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver would have no more obligation to Canada than the NBA's Raptors do to the national basketball side. But for now, the league should change the rules so Canadian players are counted as domestics rather than internationals at U.S. clubs. After all, the Canadian national team should -- at the very least -- benefit more from MLS than the countries it competes with to return to the World Cup.