IIRC, the requirement was 75% of the teams had to be in markets with metro areas of 750k+, so it wouldn't be a problem.
Yes, Ottawa, Edmonton, and Calgary are all either in NASL, or joining in a year or two. That's actually a solid list of cities that could have a team. Maybe someday down the line Canada could have it's own league, I mean, the top three cities could even have two teams.
"ii. At least 75 percent of the league’s teams must play in metropolitan markets of at least 750,000 persons."
Well since they use MSA's as of now, counting expansion. Forth Lauderdale is small on its own, but when counted as an MSA they include Miami so that is over the 750K mark. Cary is part of the Raleigh-Duram MSA, so they are fine. Virginia would be part of the DC MSA so they would be ok. So the 13 NASL teams are in higher than 750K MSA. But also only 2 out of 13 are outside the Continental USA, so for now even the 75% American would not be an issue. To add 2 more Canadian teams "all" NASL would need is 1 more American team (4/16) pending no current American team folds and all expansions currently announced do end up playing.
Raleigh and Durham-Chapel Hill are separate MSAs. Raleigh is nearly 1.2 million people now. Durham-Chapel Hill is 523k and growing pretty quickly as well. It's a bizarre place for a distinction, as it cuts the research triangle into unnatural segments, but it's the one that's used.
What MSA does Cary belong to then? I guess the strikers could have a similar issue if the Miami MSA gets split into 2.
Take away Miami-Dade County and you still have over 3 million people. Broward County where Ft Lauderdale is has 1.7 mil. Palm Beach County, which is on the other side of Broward from Miami, has 1.3 mil. Not small.
Cary is part of the Raleigh MSA. I'm really not sure what the logic was in splitting them into two separate MSAs. Going further west on I-40, you've also got the Greensboro MSA that is close to meeting the 750k requirement (currently estimated at 736k). I feel like there are really two legit MSAs there, Raleigh-Durham and Greensboro-Winston-Salem, but instead it's split into four.