The Canadian Football League (CFL); French: Ligue canadienne de football (LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a city in Canada. They are divided into two divisions: four teams in the East Division and five teams in the West Division. As of 2024, it features a 21-week regular season in which each team plays 18 games with three bye weeks. This season traditionally runs from mid-June to early November. Following the regular season, six teams compete in the league's three-week playoffs, which culminate in the Grey Cup championship game in late November. The Grey Cup is one of Canada's largest annual sports and television events. The CFL was officially named on January 19, 1958, upon the merger between the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union or "Big Four" and the Western Interprovincial Football Union.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division.
Geroy Simon is the interim general manager for the Edmonton Elks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is also a former professional Canadian football slotback who played in 15 seasons in the CFL, twelve of them with the BC Lions. Simon won the CFL's Most Outstanding Player Award in 2006 while also winning three Grey Cup championships; with the BC Lions in 2006 and 2011 and with Saskatchewan in 2013. As of the 2013 CFL season, Simon is the all-time career leader in CFL receiving yards with 16,352 yards, second in pass receptions with 1,029 and third in touchdown receptions with 103.
Jason Clermont is a former professional Canadian football slotback who retired after ten seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the BC Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders. Clermont started his professional career with the BC Lions after being selected in the 2002 CFL Draft. He played amateur football in his hometown of Regina, starting with the Regina Rams junior football club, and continuing with the team after they became affiliated with the University of Regina. While playing university football, Clermont was named an All-Star and All-Canadian, as well as the Most Valuable Player in the Canada West Conference and represented Western Canada as one of only 2 Canadian players in the East West Shrine Bowl in San Francisco. As a professional, Clermont's honours have included being named the CFL's Most Outstanding Rookie in 2002, Most Outstanding Canadian in 2004 and 2007, as well as the Most Valuable Canadian at the 2004 Grey Cup. Clermont captured a Grey Cup championship with the Lions in 2006. He joined his hometown Roughriders at the start of the 2009 season after being released by the Lions and is now a member of the Regina Sports Hall of Fame as well as the University of Regina Hall of Fame and BC Lions Wall of Fame.
Paul McCallum is a former Canadian football punter and placekicker. He is a two-time Grey Cup champion, having won with the BC Lions in 2006 and 2011. He is also a six-time CFL West All-Star and a two-time CFL All-Star. He was also named the Grey Cup Most Valuable Canadian in 2006 and won the CFL's Most Outstanding Special Teams Award in 2011. McCallum had been a member of three different CFL franchises, one XFL team, an NFL Europa team, and a Scottish third division club. At the time of his retirement, McCallum was the oldest active player in the CFL, having played in 24 seasons over the course of his career.
Gene Makowsky is a former Canadian politician and former Canadian football offensive lineman who was a member of the Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly representing the riding of Regina Gardiner Park from 2016 until 2024 and prior to that represented the riding of Regina Dewdney.
Jacques Chapdelaine is a Canadian football coach and former professional slotback in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He most recently served as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the Toronto Argonauts of the CFL. He has also served as the offensive coordinator for four other CFL teams, the head coach of the Montreal Alouettes (2016-17), and the head coach for two Canadian university football teams. He has won three Grey Cup championships as an assistant coach and one Vanier Cup as the head coach of the Laval Rouge et Or. He played collegiately for the Simon Fraser Clan as a wide receiver and played between 1983 and 1989 for four different CFL teams.
Ricky Foley is a Canadian former professional football defensive end who played in the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was drafted by the BC Lions in the first round of the 2006 CFL Draft. He is a three-time Grey Cup champion, having won in his rookie year in 2006 and also winning in 2012 and 2013. Foley won the CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award in 2009 and also the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian award in 2012. He played CIS football for the York Lions.
Andrew Jones is a Canadian retired professional football player who was an offensive lineman for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Jones was drafted by the Lions in the fourth round of the 2007 CFL Draft. He is a three-time Grey Cup champion, having won with three different teams in a span of five years, 2011, 2012, and 2015. He played CIS football for the McMaster Marauders.
Khalif Quadree Mitchell is an American former professional football defensive tackle. Mitchell played college football for two seasons at the University of North Carolina and later at East Carolina University. He was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2009 and released in 2010. In 2011, he won a Grey Cup with the BC Lions. In his professional career, Mitchell has played for the B.C. Lions, Toronto Argonauts, Montreal Alouettes and the Saskatchewan Roughriders in the CFL, San Francisco 49ers in the NFL and the Sioux Falls Storm in the IFL.
Zachary J. Collaros is an American professional football quarterback for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League (CFL). Collaros won the 107th Grey Cup and 108th Grey Cup as the starting quarterback with the Blue Bombers when they defeated the Hamilton Tiger-Cats in both games. He had previously won the Grey Cup as the backup quarterback with the Toronto Argonauts in the 100th Grey Cup. Collaros played college football for the Cincinnati Bearcats, and has also been a member of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Saskatchewan Roughriders and Toronto Argonauts.
Jerome Messam is a former professional Canadian football running back who played in nine seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) for five teams. He was originally signed as an undrafted free agent by the BC Lions. After being traded to the Edmonton Eskimos, he became the seventh Canadian running back since 1955 and the first since 2000 to rush for over 1,000 yards while also winning the CFL's Most Outstanding Canadian Award. He won the award again in 2016 and was also the Grey Cup's Most Valuable Canadian in 2017. He is a two-time CFL All-Star and three-time CFL West All-Star. Messam played college football for Graceland University.
Zack Evans is a Canadian football defensive lineman who is a free agent. He is a two-time Grey Cup champion having won the 101st Grey Cup as a member of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and the 104th Grey Cup with the Ottawa Redblacks.
Shawn Lemon is an American professional football defensive lineman for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He played college football at Akron. He has been a member of eight CFL teams, three indoor football teams and two NFL teams.
Scott Redl is a former Canadian football offensive lineman who played seven seasons in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He was drafted by the Saskatchewan Roughriders as a territorial exemption in the 1983 CFL Draft. He played CIS football at the University of Saskatchewan and attended Evan Hardy Collegiate in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Redl was also a member of the BC Lions. He is the younger brother of fellow CFL player Doug Redl.
Ese Mrabure-Ajufo is a Canadian former professional football defensive lineman. He played CIS football for the Wilfrid Laurier Golden Hawks.
Dexter Janke is the head coach for the York Lions of U Sports football. He played professionally as a defensive back for four years in the Canadian Football League (CFL) with the Calgary Stampeders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers, the latter of which he won a Grey Cup title with in 2019. He has also served as head coach for the Westshore Rebels of the Canadian Junior Football League (CJFL).
Kienan LaFrance is a Canadian professional football running back who is a free agent. He made his professional debut for the Ottawa Redblacks, where he won the 104th Grey Cup in 2016, and has also been a member of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, Saskatchewan Roughriders, and BC Lions.
Jamal Campbell is a professional Canadian football offensive lineman who is a free agent. He most recently played for the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He won his first Grey Cup championship in 2017 with the Toronto Argonauts.
Jake Paul Harty is a Canadian professional football wide receiver for the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a Grey Cup champion after winning with the Ottawa Redblacks in 2016 and with Montreal Alouettes in 2023. He is also a Vanier Cup champion as a coach after the Calgary Dinos won the 55th Vanier Cup in 2019.
