Canadian Football Player Drafts

Draft Formats and History

In 1952, the IRFU held the first Canadian Football Amateur draft. The Big Four teams selected Canadian players from five Eastern Canada universities — McGill, McMaster, Queen's, Toronto and Western Ontario. The draft evolved with the development of Canadian football and the formation of the CFL, eventually expanding to additional Canadian universities and finally to national (non-import) players who attended US colleges.

Supplemental drafts provide a way for players who do not make the eligibility deadline for the main draft to be selected before the next draft. In addition, the CFL has held expansion drafts to stock expansion teams, equalization drafts as a competitive balance measure, and dispersal drafts.

Amateur Entry Drafts

Canadian Amateur Drafts
Includes Territorial Exemption Selections (1973–1984)

Years Held

Supplemental Drafts

Years Held

Other Drafts

Expansion Drafts

Years Held

Equalization Drafts

Years Held

Dispersal Drafts

Years Held

All-Time Amateur Team Breakdown and Draft Success

Team Played / Picks (%) League GP Team GP
League Total 1,559 / 3,782 (41.22%) 92,959 49,973
Ottawa RedBlacks 24 / 43 (55.81%) 719 650
Ottawa Renegades 13 / 26 (50.00%) 1,000 184
Calgary Stampeders 221 / 461 (47.94%) 12,813 7,633
BC Lions 191 / 409 (46.70%) 13,434 6,953
Edmonton Eskimos 184 / 404 (45.54%) 10,983 5,492
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 156 / 375 (41.60%) 9,100 5,439
Toronto Argonauts 181 / 442 (40.95%) 9,386 5,197
Saskatchewan Roughriders 160 / 391 (40.92%) 10,795 5,937
Montreal Alouettes 161 / 415 (38.80%) 10,291 5,693
Montreal Concordes 10 / 26 (38.46%) 851 118
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 167 / 473 (35.31%) 8,808 4,695
Ottawa Rough Riders 91 / 317 (28.71%) 4,779 1,982

All-Time Amateur Draft Breakdown

Breakdown by Position
  • 471 — LB
  • 428 — DB
  • 365 — WR
  • 339 — OL
  • 275 — RB
  • 243 — HB
  • 198 — DL
  • 179 — DE
  • 153 — OT
  • 151 — T
  • 133 — DT
  • 125 — QB
  • 123 — E
  • 115 — G
  • 106 — TE
  • 100 — C
  • 96 — FB
  • 94 — OG
  • 72 — K
  • 56 — SB
  • 43 — Unknown
  • 32 — CB
  • 27 — FL
  • 19 — S
  • 8 — P
  • 7 — MW
  • 5 — DHB
  • 5 — FW
  • 4 — NT
  • 3 — LS
  • 2 — M
  • 2 — OW
  • 1 — ST
Breakdown by College/Program
  • 264 — Western Ontario
  • 241 — Toronto
  • 217 — Simon Fraser
  • 196 — Queen's
  • 161 — British Columbia (UBC)
  • 157 — Alberta
  • 155 — McMaster
  • 153 — Calgary
  • 140 — McGill
  • 130 — Manitoba
  • 122 — Saskatchewan
  • 118 — Ottawa
  • 118 — Wilfrid Laurier
  • 99 — Guelph
  • 86 — Saint Mary's
  • 81 — Bishop's
  • 72 — Carleton
  • 62 — Concordia
  • 62 — Laval
  • 61 — Waterloo
  • 58 — St. Francis Xavier
  • 56 — Windsor
  • 53 — Acadia
  • 47 — York
  • 35 — Mount Allison
  • 34 — Waterloo Lutheran
  • 33 — Montreal
  • 33 — Regina
  • 29 — Weber State
  • 24 — North Dakota
  • 22 — Boise State
  • 20 — Eastern Michigan
  • 19 — Loyola, New Brunswick, Washington State
  • 15 — Minot State, Utah
  • 14 — Michigan State, Sherbrooke
  • 13 — Dalhousie
  • 12 — Syracuse, Utah State
  • 10 — Brigham Young, Northern Illinois, Richmond
  • 9 — Bowling Green, Kent State, Montana, Royal Military College, Toledo
  • 8 — Boston College, Colorado, Connecticut, Michigan, Tulsa, Western Michigan, Whitworth
  • 7 — Akron, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Dickinson State, Drake, Hawaii, Idaho State, New Hampshire, Oregon, Purdue, San Jose State, Western Kentucky
  • 6 — Central Michigan, Colgate, Cornell, Idaho, Laurentian, Miami, Otterbein
  • 5 — Arizona, Eastern Washington, Indiana, Montana State, Nebraska, Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), Ohio State, Rice, San Diego State, Stanford
  • 4 — Eastern Illinois, Florida, Fresno State, Harvard, Henderson State, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Kentucky, Liberty, Minnesota, North Dakota State, Portland State, Rocky Mountain, Slippery Rock, U.S. International, Wake Forest, Washington, Wyoming, Youngstown State
  • 3 — Brandon, California-Berkeley, California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Central Florida, Columbia, Eastern Oregon, Edinboro, Grand Valley State, Iowa State, Kansas, Livingston, Macdonald, Mansfield, Maryland, Moorhead State, Murray State, New Mexico State, North Carolina, Northeast Missouri State, Northern Arizona, Notre Dame, Pacific, Pennsylvania State, Prince Edward Island, Princeton, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Western Illinois, Western Montana, West Virginia, Wooster
  • 2 — Augsburg, Baylor, Bemidji State, Boston, California (PA), Canisius, Central Washington, Charleston Southern, Delaware State, Evangel, Fairmont State, Fordham, Georgia State, Howard, Humboldt State, Indianapolis, Kansas State, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisville, Maine, Marshall, Massachusetts, Memphis, Miami (OH), Minnesota State-Moorhead, Missouri, Nevada-Reno, New Mexico, Northern Colorado, Northwestern, Northwood, Occidental, Oregon State, Puget Sound, Sheridan, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, St. Patrick's, Tennessee-Martin, Texas Tech, Tulane, Valley City State, Virginia Tech, Wagner College, Washburn, Wayne State, Western Washington, Winona State, Wisconsin State-La Crosse
  • 1 — Adams State, Air Force, Alabama, Angelo State, Appalachian State, Arizona State, Augustana, Azusa Pacific, Bethune-Cookman, Bridgeport, Bucknell, California Lutheran, California Poly-Pomona, California-Santa Barbara, California State-Fullerton, Cape Breton, Carroll (WI), Carson-Newman, Central (Iowa), Dartmouth, Delta State, Duke, East Central, Eastern Kentucky, East Stroudsburg, Ferris State, Florida A&M, Fort Lewis, Fresno CC, Gannon, Gavilan JC, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Glenville State, Graceland, Grambling State, Harding, Hastings, Hayward, Hofstra, Holy Cross, Illinois State, Indiana State, Ithaca, Jacksonville, Jacksonville State, James Madison, Jamestown, Kutztown, Lafayette, Lehigh, Long Beach State, Long Island-Post, Louisiana State, Mary, Mayville State, McNeese State, Memphis State, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, Missouri Western State, Montana Tech, Morgan State, Morningside, New Haven, Northeastern, Northern Iowa, Northern State, Northwestern State, Oklahoma, Pacific Lutheran, Panhandle State, Pittsburg State, Robert Morris, Rutgers, Ryerson, Saginaw Valley State, Saint Dunstan's, Sainte-Marie de Montréal, Salisbury State, Sam Houston State, San Diego, Seneca, South Alabama, South Dakota, Southern, Southern Arkansas, Southern Missouri State, Southern Oregon, Southwest State, Springfield College, St. Cloud State, Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas-El Paso, Texas Southern, Thunder Bay Giants Jr., Tiffin, Tusculum, Villanova, West Connecticut, Western Oregon, Willamette, William and Mary, William Jewell, Wisconsin, Wofford, Yale