The opening stages of the first half were open and it was the Boys in Green who came closest to taking an early lead, as Dawson Devoy came within a whisker of scoring on his senior international debut.
Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side were left to rue that missed opportunity as Les Rouges took the lead shortly after the midway point of the first half, when Jake O'Brien inadvertently turned the ball into his own net following an excellent corner from Stephen Eustaquio.
With Canada having kept six clean sheets from their previous seven matches, Ireland knew they had plenty of work ahead of them if they were to get back into contention.
Despite the hosts having far more attempts before the interval than their opponents, there wasn’t much in the way of quality in the final third for the Canucks, as only Tajon Buchanan was able to register a shot on target by the time the HT whistle was blown.
The second half kicked into life just before the hour mark as a blatant Cyle Larin foul on Jamie McGrath resulted in a penalty being awarded for the visitors. Troy Parrott stepped up to take the spot kick and saw his effort saved by Maxime Crepeau, but Chiedozie Ogbene rushed in to stroke home the rebound with aplomb and level the contest with his fifth goal for his nation.
The hosts showed added urgency in their quest to edge themselves back in front, and Mark Travers was called into action to deny Larin the chance to make amends for his earlier error at the other end of the pitch.
With FT on the horizon, the Boys in Green almost secured a late winner through Mason Melia, but the teenager’s effort was thwarted by an inspired save from Crépeau. Ultimately, both sides had to make do with a draw in Montreal.
The result means Canada have still never beaten Ireland in their history but, while this performance was not a spectacular one, head coach Jesse Marsch must still be encouraged with his team’s form heading into their opening game at the WC against Bosnia and Herzegovina next week.
Meanwhile, Ireland will be back in action in September when they kick off their UEFA Nations League campaign away at Kosovo, doing so having not lost any of their last seven matches inside 90 minutes.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Luc de Fougerolles (Canada)