Priestman has left her role as assistant coach with England to take the hot seat at Canada, vacated by Kenneth Heiner-Møller after he stepped down in the summer.

During her time with England, Priestman helped guide them to fourth at last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, earning Britain a place at the Olympic Games as one of the top three European nations at the tournament.

But Priestman has now decided to return to Canada, where she worked for five years before moving to England in 2018.

Canada secured bronze medals at London 2012 and Rio 2016 and Priestman is looking forward to leading the country in Tokyo 2020.

"It is an honour and privilege to return to Canada to lead such a talented group of players and a team with a fantastic history," Priestman said.

"With a great blend of experience and youth, I’m excited as to what we can achieve together over the next quadrennial.

"I would like to thank Canada Soccer for this fantastic opportunity.

"Our immediate focus is the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 next year and then subsequently building towards the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023 where ultimately Canada should be on that podium.

"I look forward to connecting with the great group of staff and players ready to head into the Olympic year of 2021 focused and ready to give it our all."

During her five-year spell with Canada Soccer, Priestman served as national EXCEL director from under-15s to under-23s.

She was head coach at two FIFA Under-17 Women’s World Cups, one Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) Women’s Under-20 Championship, three CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championships and one CONCACAF Under-15 Championship.

Priestman also held the role as technical assistant with the women’s team, helping them to sixth in the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, second at the 2016 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship and third at Rio 2016.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Bev Priestman back to Canada Soccer as our women’s national team head coach," said Canada Soccer President Steven Reed.

"Bev’s contributions leading the women’s national EXCEL programme and supporting the women’s national team as an assistant coach during her five-years with Canada Soccer set a solid foundation for success across all levels of the women’s national team programme and we are excited to have her bring her recent experience, vision and leadership to her new role."