The following is a complete list of first-round draft picks selected by the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League. The Lions began participating in the Canadian College Draft in 1956 when western teams were permitted to make selections. From 1960-1962, only eastern teams and the Calgary Stampeders participated in the draft as the other western clubs signed players from universities in their area. This list also includes all territorial exemptions from 1973, when teams were first permitted to selected players within their designated area, until 1985 when these exemptions were abolished. [1] [2]
The BC Lions have had the first overall selection in the draft seven times, most recently in the 2020 CFL Draft. Since 1966, the Lions have only ever lost their first round pick six times, in the 1959, 1963, 1966, 1997, 2014, and 2019 CFL Drafts, due to trades. [3] [4] Not including territorial exemptions, the most first-round picks the Lions have had in one year is three, which first occurred in the 2006 CFL Draft and then again in the 2009 CFL Draft.
= CFL Division All-Star | = CFL All-Star | = Hall of Famer |
The CFL draft is an annual sports draft in which the teams of the Canadian Football League (CFL) select eligible Canadian/non-import players, typically from the ranks of U Sports football or NCAA college football. Member clubs make selections based on the reverse order of the previous year's standings, with the team with the worst record being awarded the first selection, the Grey Cup runner-up getting the second-to-last selection and the Grey Cup champion selecting last. The draft is held once every year, approximately six weeks prior to the start of the upcoming season.
The 2011 CFL Draft took place on Sunday, May 8, 2011 at 12:30 PM ET on TSN. 47 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The Toronto Argonauts, Montreal Alouettes and Hamilton Tiger-Cats had the most draft selections with a total of seven apiece. Next came the Calgary Stampeders and Winnipeg Blue Bombers who each had six selections. The BC Lions and Saskatchewan Roughriders both picked five times. The Edmonton Eskimos had the fewest picks, with only four. A total of five trades involving 14 draft picks were made on the draft day itself. Of the 47 draft selections, 34 players were drafted from Canadian Interuniversity Sport institutions.
The 2012 CFL Draft took place on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 3:00 PM ET on TSN. 45 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The Calgary Stampeders had the most selections with eight, while Hamilton had seven picks. The Toronto Argonauts and Montreal Alouettes each had six and the Edmonton Eskimos and Winnipeg Blue Bombers had five picks. The defending Grey Cup champion BC Lions and the Saskatchewan Roughriders had the fewest selections with just four. A total of three trades involving 11 draft picks in this draft were made on the draft day itself. Of the 45 draft selections, 24 players were drafted from Canadian Interuniversity Sport institutions, which is the lowest percentage of CIS players taken since 2006. It is also the lowest number of CIS players taken since the 2000 CFL Draft when just 22 out of 46 players were chosen.
The 2013 CFL Draft took place on Monday, May 6, 2013, at 12:00 PM ET on TSN. 60 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The Montreal Alouettes had the most selections with nine, followed by the Hamilton Tiger-Cats with eight. Each of the West Division teams had seven picks while Winnipeg had six. The defending Grey Cup champion Toronto Argonauts had five picks and Ottawa chose four players from NCAA schools that would play another year. A total of 16 trades were made involving draft picks from this year, including two made on draft day itself, with 12 being made by the Edmonton Eskimos. Of the 60 draft selections, 44 players were drafted from Canadian Interuniversity Sport institutions, which is the highest number of CIS players taken since the 1987 CFL Draft when 50 of 72 were taken. It is also the highest percentage (73.3%) of CIS players taken since 2009.
The 2014 CFL Draft took place on Tuesday, May 13, 2014 at 7:00 PM ET on TSN. 65 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. A total of 19 trades were made involving draft picks from this year, including six made on draft day itself, with five involving picks from the first round.
The 2014 Ottawa Redblacks season was the first season for the team in the Canadian Football League. The Redblacks are the third CFL franchise to play in the city of Ottawa, and the first since the suspension of the Renegades in 2006. The Redblacks finished the season in fourth place in the East Division with a 2–16 record and were eliminated from playoff contention after a week 16 loss to the BC Lions.
The 2016 CFL Draft took place on Tuesday, May 10, 2016 at 7:00 PM ET on TSN2 and RDS2. 70 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. The draft was expanded to eight rounds, which is the most since there were eight rounds in the 1992 CFL Draft. This draft also featured the most draft selections since 1987 when 72 players were drafted.
The following is a list of first round selections from Canadian college drafts from 1956 to 1969, which are annual sports drafts in which the teams of the Canadian Football League (CFL) selected eligible Canadian/non-import players, typically from the ranks of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football or NCAA college football. Member clubs made selections based on the reverse order of the previous year's standings, with the team with the worst record being awarded the first selection. Prior to 1956, only Interprovincial Rugby Football Union clubs participated in the draft while the Western Interprovincial Football Union not only chose by territorial rights, but would also try to sign away players that were drafted by eastern clubs. To create a level playing field, the Canadian Football Council was formed which later evolved into the Canadian Football League. Following the creation of the CFC, all nine member clubs participated in the 1956 draft. The order of selection was determined by reverse record with the losing conference picking first.
The 2018 CFL Draft took place on May 3, 2018, at 8:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS. Sixty-nine players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA.
The 2019 CFL Draft took place on May 2, 2019 at 8:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS. 73 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities, as well as Canadian players playing in the United States on NCAA or NAIA teams.
The 2020 CFL Draft took place on April 30, 2020 at 8:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS. 73 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. This was the second year in a row that featured territorial picks after they were re-introduced in the 2019 CFL Draft.
The 2021 CFL National Draft was a selection of National players by Canadian Football League teams that took place at May 4, 2021 at 7:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS. 54 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA. Unlike previous drafts, where the selection order was determined by the previous year's standings, this year's draft order was determined by a random draw.
The 2020 BC Lions season was scheduled to be the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League (CFL) and their 67th overall. Training camps, pre-season games, and regular season games were initially postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CFL announced on April 7, 2020 that the start of the 2020 CFL season would not occur before July 2020. On May 20, 2020, it was announced that the league would likely not begin regular season play prior to September 2020. On August 17, 2020 however, the season was officially cancelled due to COVID-19.
The 2020 Calgary Stampeders season was scheduled to be the 63rd season for the team in the Canadian Football League and their 76th overall. Training camps, pre-season games, and regular season games were initially postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Alberta. The CFL announced on April 7, 2020 that the start of the 2020 season would not occur before July 2020. On May 20, 2020, it was announced that the league would likely not begin regular season play prior to September 2020. On August 17, 2020 however, the season was officially cancelled due to COVID-19.
The 2022 CFL National Draft was a selection of National players by Canadian Football League (CFL) teams that took place on May 3, 2022, at 8:00 pm ET and was broadcast on TSN and RDS. 74 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA.
The 2023 CFL National Draft was a selection of National players by Canadian Football League teams that took place on May 2, 2023, at 8:00 pm ET. 72 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA and NAIA.
The 2024 CFL draft was a selection of National players by Canadian Football League teams that took place on April 30, 2024 at 8:00 pm ET. 74 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA and NAIA.