The origins of the Canadian Tour can be traced back to the
Carling of Canada Golf Tour, which ran for four years from 1966 to 1969. In 1970
Carling Brewery reduced their sponsorship commitments to just a handful of the main tournaments and the tour became less coordinated. Later in the year
Imperial Tobacco Canada, under the Peter Jackson brand, signed on as title sponsor and brought scattered Canadian professional events back under one umbrella. The
Peter Jackson Tour started in 1971 bringing together seven provincial opens, with each purse reaching
C$15–20,000 by 1977. The Tour developed predominantly Canadian touring pros but also welcomed players from around the world.
Canadian Golf Hall of Fame members
Dave Barr and
Dan Halldorson – both two-time
PGA Tour winners – competed on the circuit in the 1970s and made several appearances once they were established on the big tour. Fellow Canadians and PGA Tour winners
Al Balding and
George Knudson also returned home several times in their career to play the circuit. As the 1970s continued, government legislation began restricting the amount of advertising and sponsorship that tobacco companies were allowed to participate in. In 1978, anticipating future legislation that would ban tobacco advertising and sponsorship in Canada, Imperial Tobacco withdrew its title sponsorship of the circuit. Several tournaments disappeared and although a few carried on, there was no longer any cohesion to the circuit. In 1982, Canadian touring professionals formed the Tournament Players Division (TPD) within the Canadian Professional Golfers Association (CPGA) and proposed a reorganized circuit under the guidance of Ken Tarling. In 1985, TPD members selected Bob Beauchemin as president with the mandate to "build, promote and conduct tournaments of the Canadian Tour to develop Canadian professional golfers to a world-class level." The reborn
Canadian Professional Golf Tour began play in 1985 and had six events. Nevertheless, the Tour was still linked with the CPGA (PGA of Canada). In January 1986, Beauchemin convinced the CPGA's Board of Directors to grant the TPD autonomous status within the CPGA and to be responsible for its own funding. The next step involved organizing tournaments in such a way as to maximize the benefit for the players. At the time, most tournaments were 36- or 54-hole events and several were
pro-am formats. To prepare players for the PGA Tour, they set a goal for all tournaments to be 72 holes with no pro-ams during the actual competition. Prize money, exemptions and draws would need to mimic the format used on the PGA Tour and
European Tour. Although it took until 1989 for all tournaments to play 72 holes, the Canadian Tour began attracting players from not only the United States, but from around the world in the mid-1980s. The Canadian Tour has sent many players on to PGA Tour success. Canadian
Mike Weir, the winner of eight PGA Tour titles – including the 2003
Masters - earned Rookie of the Year honours on the Canadian Tour in 1993. In 1997, Weir captured the 1997
Canadian Masters and
BC Tel Pacific Open as well as the Order of Merit. He first qualified for the PGA Tour in 1998. Other PGA Tour winners who played the Canadian Tour include 2005
U.S. Open winner
Michael Campbell, 2004
Open Championship winner
Todd Hamilton,
Steve Stricker,
Stuart Appleby,
Peter Lonard,
Scott McCarron,
Tim Herron,
Chris DiMarco,
Nick Watney,
Stephen Ames,
Paul Casey,
Arron Oberholser,
D. A. Points,
Ken Duke,
Mackenzie Hughes, and 2008
RBC Canadian Open winner
Chez Reavie. The former Canadian Tour became an associate member of what was at the time the trade body of the world's main men's tours, the
International Federation of PGA Tours, in 2000. In 2009, it became a full member when the Federation expanded to include all of the main women's tours. It is one of a number of lower-level tours at which
Official World Golf Ranking points are available, with a minimum of six given to the winner and points to the top six plus ties. The
Canadian Open, which is the richest golf event in
Canada, is a PGA Tour event. The top three from the PGA Tour Canada Order of Merit the week before the Canadian Open are given entry. The prize money does not count toward Order of Merit earnings. PGA Tour Canada offices are at Golf House in
Oakville, Ontario, on the grounds of the
Glen Abbey Golf Course. The
Jack Nicklaus-designed course has hosted more than 20 Canadian Opens since 1977. In 2011, the Canadian Tour made history when
Isabelle Beisiegel became the first woman to earn a Tour card on a men's professional golf tour. In October 2012, the PGA Tour acquired the Canadian Tour, renaming it PGA Tour Canada effective November 1, 2012, for first use in the 2013 season. Under the new system, the top five players on the PGA Tour Canada Order of Merit earn
Web.com Tour cards, with the money leader fully exempt and those 2nd-5th conditionally exempt. Players ranked 2nd through 10th are exempt through to the finals of
qualifying school and those who finish 11th–20th are admitted to the second stage. The re-tooled tour offered at least eight tournaments per season, with total purses of about $150,000 apiece. For 2015, the purses were increased to $175,000 for the first eleven events. Those who finish in the Top 60 earn entry into season-ending
Freedom 55 Financial Championship, with a $200,000 purse and are guaranteed at minimum full PGA Tour Canada status for the next season. In 2018, the purses were increased to $200,000 and $225,000 respectively. Like many smaller tours, PGA Tour Canada has its own series of qualifying schools at various sites. The medalist at each of the six sites is fully exempt for the season. Those in the top 14 (not including ties) are exempt through the first six events, when a reshuffle occurs. In the event of a tie, a playoff determines the final exempt position. Those in the top 40 including ties are conditionally exempt. In 2015,
Mackenzie Investments became the tour's umbrella sponsor. For the next six years, the tour was named
Mackenzie Tour-PGA Tour Canada. Through various PGA Tour Canada's initiatives, over $4.1 million has been raised for charities throughout Canada since 2013. In 2020, PGA Tour Canada originally planned an expansion into border states with the United States. On January 16, 2020, officials announced a six-year deal with the Cragun's Golf Resort in
Brainerd, Minnesota for the Cuyuna Regional Medical Center Championship. In March, the tour was cancelled due to the
COVID-19 pandemic, and replaced by two series – the
LocaliQ Series in the United States, an eight-tournament series from August to November, and the Canada Life Series for Canadian-based players, a four-tournament series from August and September to provide Canadian-based players some playing opportunities. In response to travel restrictions, the LocaliQ Series became the
Forme Tour in 2021 to allow non-Canadian members to earn Korn Ferry Tour privileges. In 2022, PGA Tour Canada rebranded the Order of Merit as the
Fortinet Cup, which was modelled after the FedEx Cup points system used by the main PGA Tour, and was sponsored by network security company
Fortinet. ==Order of Merit winners==