It was the 119th edition of the Canada Masters for the men (the 107th edition for the women), and was part of the ATP Masters Series of the 2008 ATP Tour, and of the Tier I Series of the 2008 WTA Tour.

The event was scheduled two weeks earlier than the usual early-August date to avoid conflicting with the 2008 Summer Olympics.

4, Miami Masters, Pörtschach and Warsaw titlist Nikolay Davydenko, Valencia and s'Hertogenbosch winner David Ferrer, Andy Roddick, James Blake and Andy Murray.

1 and French Open champion Ana Ivanovic, Rome Tier I winner and 2007 Canada Masters runner-up Jelena Janković, and reigning Australian Open champion Maria Sharapova.

Other top seeded players were French Open semifinalist Svetlana Kuznetsova, Wimbledon semifinalist and Dubai titlist Elena Dementieva, Anna Chakvetadze, Dinara Safina and Vera Zvonareva.