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 Ottawa Rough Riders were a Canadian Football League team based in Ottawa, Ontario, founded in 1876. Formerly one of the oldest and longest-lived professional sports teams in North America, the Rough Riders won the Grey Cup championship nine times. Their most dominant era was the 1960s and 1970s, in which they won five Grey Cups. The team's fortunes waned in the 1980s and 1990s, and they ultimately ceased operations following the 1996 season. Five years later, a new CFL team known as the Ottawa Renegades was founded, though they suspended operations in 2006. The Ottawa Redblacks, which own the Rough Riders and Renegades intellectual properties, joined the league in 2014.
Football Canada is the governing body for gridiron football in Canada headquartered in Ottawa, Ontario. Football Canada focuses primarily its own Canadian form of the sport, and is currently the world's only national governing body for Canadian football.
The East Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League, its counterpart being the West Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the East Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagues.
The Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) was an early amateur Canadian football league comprising teams in the Canadian province of Ontario. The ORFU was founded on Saturday, January 6, 1883 and in 1903 became the first major competition to adopt the Burnside rules, from which the modern Canadian football code would evolve.
The Edmonton Eskimos defeat the Montreal Alouettes in the first Grey Cup held in the west. This was also the first year that the Grey Cup was open to professional teams only, as the amateur Ontario Rugby Football Union was not invited to compete in an inter-union playdown, leaving only the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union and the Western Interprovincial Football Union to compete for the Canadian championship.
The Hamilton Tigers were a Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario that played in the Ontario Rugby Football Union from 1883 to 1906 and 1948 to 1949 and in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union from 1907 to 1947. The club was a founding member of both the ORFU in 1883 and the IRFU in 1907. Throughout their history, the Tigers won five Grey Cup Championships and two Dominion Championships, including the 1908 title, the year before the Grey Cup was first awarded. After struggling to compete on a sound financial level with the Hamilton Wildcats, who had joined the ORFU in 1941 and later the IRFU, the two clubs merged in 1950 to form the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
The Ottawa Redblacks are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL).
Brian Mercer "Old Man of the Mountain" Timmis was a star senior Canadian football player in the Saskatchewan Rugby Football Union (SRFU) and Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) for a combined 17 seasons, mainly for the Hamilton Tigers. He is a three-time Grey Cup champion as a player, having won with the Tigers in 1928, 1929, and 1932. He later coached the Hamilton Flying Wildcats, leading them to the 1943 Grey Cup championship. He was an inaugural member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame in 1963 and was also inducted into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1975. Brian Timmis Stadium in Hamilton, Ontario was named after him.
The 1948 Ottawa Rough Riders finished in first place in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union with a 10–2 record but lost the Grey Cup game to the Calgary Stampeders.
Marcel Desjardins is a Canadian football executive who is currently the assistant to the general manager and player personnel for the Montreal Alouettes of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He has also served as the general manager for the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for two seasons and the Ottawa Redblacks for eight seasons. He is a four time Grey Cup champion, having won his first three with the Alouettes and his fourth with the Redblacks in 2016. Desjardins is a graduate of the Sports Administration program at Laurentian University in Sudbury, Ontario.
Bob Dyce is the head coach and special teams coordinator for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He was formerly the interim head coach of the Saskatchewan Roughriders. He is a Grey Cup champion after winning as an assistant coach with the Roughriders in 2013 and with the Redblacks in 2016. He attended the University of Manitoba where he played wide receiver with the Manitoba Bisons.
The 1908 Dominion Championship was a Canadian football game that was played on November 28, 1908, at the Rosedale Field in Toronto, Ontario, that determined the Senior Rugby Football champion of Canada for the 1908 season. The Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) champion Hamilton Tigers defeated the Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union (CIRFU) champion Toronto Varsity 21–17 to claim their second Dominion Championship. This was the last Dominion Championship played before the establishment of the Grey Cup trophy for the 1909 Dominion Championship game.
The 1907 Dominion Championship was a Canadian football game that was played on November 30, 1907 at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec that determined the Senior Rugby Football champion of Canada for the 1907 season. This was the first championship game to feature the newly created Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (IRFU) champion, which was the Montreal Football Club. Montreal defeated the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) champion Peterborough Club in a 71–10 blowout victory to win their second Canadian Championship. This was the eighth appearance in the title game for Montreal and the first and only appearance for Peterborough. Notably, referee Russell Britton admitted after the game that there was a scoring error when a touch-in-goal was given to Montreal when it should have counted as a try. While the score should have been 75–10, it was officially recorded as 71–10. This was the highest scoring Dominion championship/Grey Cup in Canadian football history.
Thomas Condell is a professional Canadian football coach who is the offensive coordinator for the Ottawa Redblacks of the Canadian Football League (CFL). He is a Grey Cup champion having won as an assistant coach with the Toronto Argonauts in 2017. He played college football as a wide receiver for the Lock Haven Bald Eagles and Cortland Red Dragons.
The 2025 Ottawa Redblacks season is scheduled to be the 11th season for the team since re-entering the Canadian Football League in 2014. The Redblacks will attempt to qualify for the playoffs for the second consecutive season and improve upon their 9–8–1 record from 2024. The team will attempt to win the 11th Grey Cup in franchise history.
Tom Clancy was the team's first head coach upon entry into the IRFU.
Ross Trimble won the 28th Grey Cup as the team's head coach.
Frank Clair has the most regular season, playoff, and Grey Cup wins as Ottawa's head coach.
Joe Paopao was the only head coach of the Ottawa Renegades while they were active.
Current head coach, Bob Dyce, during the 2022 season.
