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There was progress for Canadian players in MLS on Wednesday.

Homegrown players across the league will count as domestic players starting in 2017. In theory, this will create more opportunities for Canadians, who were previously considered international players on U.S.-based teams. International roster spots are limited in MLS.

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MLS, Canada Soccer and U.S. Soccer have agreed to the changes, which come with a couple of caveats.

• The player must have been a member of an MLS club academy, either in the U.S. or Canada, or a Canadian approved youth club, in the year prior to the year in which he turned 16;

• And, the player has to sign his first professional contract with MLS, or an MLS club’s USL affiliate.

For the Whitecaps, this means that Russell Teibert, Alphonso Davies, Marco Bustos and Marco Carducci will all count as domestic players league-wide as of next season.

What it also means is that veteran Canadian players who currently play abroad, Junior Hoilett for example, would not have the ability to return to MLS as a domestic player on a U.S. team.