Canadian Football Player Drafts

Draft Formats and History

In 1952, the IRFU held the first Canadian Football Amateur entry draft. The Big Four teams selected Canadian players from five Eastern Canadian 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.

Entry drafts for Mexico's Liga de Futbol Americano (LFA) and European players were added in 2019, followed by a single global entry draft starting in 2020.

Territorial protections allowed teams to protect first two players (1973-1982), then one player (1983-1984) from their territory prior to the draft. Territory protections were reintroduced in 2019 with the two teams with the lowest priority order granted territory selections of one player each from their territory after the second round.

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.

Canadian Amateur Entry Drafts
Includes Territorial Exemption Selections (1973–1984, 2019-Present)
Years Held
Supplemental Entry Drafts
Years Held
Global Entry Drafts
Years Held
Expansion Drafts
Years Held
Equalization Drafts
Years Held
Dispersal Drafts
Years Held
Team Played / Picks (%) League GP Team GP
League Total 1,660 / 3,924 (42.30%) 97,178 52,434 (53.96%)
Ottawa Renegades 13 / 26 (50.00%) 1,000 184 (18.40%)
Calgary Stampeders 230 / 479 (48.02%) 13,257 7,956 (60.01%)
Edmonton Eskimos 201 / 421 (47.74%) 11,672 5,870 (50.29%)
Ottawa RedBlacks 27 / 57 (47.37%) 941 836 (88.84%)
BC Lions 199 / 423 (47.04%) 13,678 7,214 (52.74%)
Toronto Argonauts 198 / 457 (43.33%) 10,072 5,550 (55.10%)
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 166 / 391 (42.46%) 9,471 5,676 (59.93%)
Saskatchewan Roughriders 167 / 404 (41.34%) 11,100 6,082 (54.79%)
Montreal Alouettes 178 / 433 (41.11%) 11,073 6,036 (54.51%)
Montreal Concordes 10 / 26 (38.46%) 851 118 (13.87%)
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 179 / 490 (36.53%) 9,302 4,930 (53.00%)
Ottawa Rough Riders 92 / 317 (29.02%) 4,761 1,982 (41.63%)
Breakdown by Position
  • 490 — LB
  • 447 — DB
  • 388 — WR
  • 368 — OL
  • 285 — RB
  • 243 — HB
  • 226 — DL
  • 185 — DE
  • 153 — OT
  • 151 — T
  • 134 — DT
  • 127 — QB
  • 123 — E
  • 115 — G
  • 106 — TE
  • 100 — C
  • 98 — FB
  • 94 — OG
  • 76 — K
  • 57 — SB
  • 42 — Unknown
  • 33 — CB
  • 27 — FL
  • 19 — S
  • 8 — P
  • 7 — MW
  • 5 — DHB
  • 5 — FW
  • 4 — LS
  • 4 — NT
  • 2 — M
  • 2 — OW
  • 1 — ST
  • 1 — U
Breakdown by College/Program
  • 270 — Western Ontario
  • 243 — Toronto
  • 219 — Simon Fraser
  • 198 — Queen's
  • 170 — British Columbia (UBC)
  • 160 — McMaster
  • 159 — Alberta
  • 157 — Calgary
  • 141 — McGill
  • 138 — Manitoba
  • 129 — Saskatchewan
  • 125 — Wilfrid Laurier
  • 123 — Ottawa
  • 106 — Guelph
  • 86 — Saint Mary's
  • 81 — Bishop's
  • 76 — Carleton
  • 70 — Laval
  • 67 — Concordia
  • 65 — Waterloo
  • 62 — St. Francis Xavier
  • 57 — Windsor
  • 56 — Acadia
  • 53 — York
  • 38 — Montreal
  • 36 — Mount Allison
  • 35 — Regina
  • 34 — Waterloo Lutheran
  • 29 — Weber State
  • 26 — North Dakota
  • 22 — Boise State
  • 20 — Eastern Michigan
  • 19 — Loyola, New Brunswick, Washington State
  • 16 — Sherbrooke
  • 15 — Minot State, Utah
  • 14 — Michigan State
  • 13 — Dalhousie
  • 12 — Syracuse, Utah State
  • 10 — Brigham Young, Northern Illinois, Richmond
  • 9 — Bowling Green, Connecticut, Kent State, Royal Military College, Toledo
  • 8 — Boston College, Buffalo, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Montana, Tulsa, Western Michigan, Whitworth
  • 7 — Akron, Cincinnati, Dickinson State, Drake, Idaho, Idaho State, New Hampshire, Oregon, Purdue, San Jose State, Western Kentucky
  • 6 — Central Michigan, Colgate, Cornell, Laurentian, Miami, Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV), Otterbein
  • 5 — Arizona, Eastern Washington, Fresno State, Indiana, Minnesota State-Moorhead, Montana State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Rice, San Diego State, Stanford, Virginia
  • 4 — California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Eastern Illinois, Florida, Grand Valley State, Harvard, Henderson State, Houston, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Liberty, Minnesota, Missouri, North Dakota State, Portland State, Rocky Mountain, Slippery Rock, Tennessee, U.S. International, Wagner College, Wake Forest, Washington, Wyoming, Youngstown State
  • 3 — Brandon, California-Berkeley, Central Florida, Columbia, Eastern Oregon, Edinboro, Iowa State, Livingston, Macdonald, Mansfield, Maryland, Memphis, Murray State, Nevada-Reno, New Mexico, New Mexico State, North Carolina, Northeast Missouri State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Notre Dame, Pacific, Penn State, Prince Edward Island, Princeton, South Carolina, West Virginia, Western Illinois, Western Montana, Wooster
  • 2 — Augsburg, Baylor, Bemidji State, Boston, California (PA), California Poly-Pomona, 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, Miami (OH), Northwestern, Northwood, Occidental, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon State, Puget Sound, Sheridan, South Dakota State, Southern Illinois, St. Patrick's, Tennessee-Martin, Texas Tech, Tulane, Valley City State, Virginia Tech, Washburn, Wayne State, Western Oregon, Western Washington, Winona State, Wisconsin State-La Crosse
  • 1 — Adams State, Air Force, Alabama, Angelo State, Appalachian State, Arizona State, Arkansas State, Augustana, Azusa Pacific, Bethune-Cookman, Bridgeport, Brown, Bucknell, Cal State-Fullerton, California Lutheran, California-Santa Barbara, Cape Breton, Carroll (WI), Carson-Newman, Central (IA), Dartmouth, Delta State, Duke, East Carolina, East Central, East Stroudsburg, Eastern Kentucky, Ferris State, Florida A&M, Fort Hays State, Fort Lewis, Fresno CC, Gannon, Gavilan JC, Georgia Southern, Georgia Tech, Glenville State, Graceland, Grambling State, Harding, Hastings, Hayward, Hofstra, Holy Cross, Houston Baptist, Illinois State, Indiana (PA), 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, Middle Tennessee State, Mississippi State, Missouri Southern State, Missouri Western State, Montana Tech, Morgan State, Morningside, New Haven, Northeastern, Northern Iowa, Northern State, Northwestern State (LA), Oklahoma State, 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, Southeastern Louisiana, Southern, Southern Arkansas, Southern Oregon, Southwest Minnesota State, Springfield College, St. Cloud State, Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Commerce, Texas Southern, Texas-El Paso, Thunder Bay Giants Jr., Tiffin, Towson, Tusculum, Villanova, Western Connecticut, Willamette, William Jewell, William and Mary, Wisconsin, Wofford, Yale