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 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.

Entry drafts for Mexico's Liga de Futbol Americano (LFA) and European players were added in 2019.

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.

Amateur Entry Drafts

Canadian Amateur Entry Drafts
Includes Territorial Exemption Selections (1973–1984, 2019)

Years Held

Supplemental Entry Drafts

Years Held

Other Drafts

Liga de Futbol Americano Entry Drafts

Years Held

European Entry Drafts

Years Held

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 1,566 / 3,853 (40.64%) 93,299 50,233
Ottawa Renegades 13 / 26 (50.00%) 1,000 184
Ottawa RedBlacks 24 / 50 (48.00%) 719 650
Calgary Stampeders 221 / 470 (47.02%) 12,813 7,633
BC Lions 194 / 416 (46.63%) 13,535 7,008
Edmonton Eskimos 185 / 412 (44.90%) 11,040 5,549
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 157 / 384 (40.89%) 9,121 5,493
Toronto Argonauts 183 / 451 (40.58%) 9,538 5,282
Saskatchewan Roughriders 160 / 397 (40.30%) 10,795 5,937
Montreal Concordes 10 / 26 (38.46%) 851 118
Montreal Alouettes 161 / 423 (38.06%) 10,291 5,693
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 167 / 481 (34.72%) 8,817 4,704
Ottawa Rough Riders 91 / 317 (28.71%) 4,779 1,982

All-Time Amateur Draft Breakdown

Breakdown by Position
  • 477 — LB
  • 438 — DB
  • 379 — WR
  • 353 — OL
  • 280 — RB
  • 243 — HB
  • 215 — DL
  • 181 — DE
  • 153 — OT
  • 151 — T
  • 134 — DT
  • 126 — QB
  • 123 — E
  • 115 — G
  • 106 — TE
  • 100 — C
  • 98 — FB
  • 94 — OG
  • 72 — K
  • 56 — SB
  • 43 — Unknown
  • 32 — CB
  • 27 — FL
  • 19 — S
  • 8 — P
  • 7 — MW
  • 5 — DHB
  • 5 — FW
  • 4 — LS
  • 4 — NT
  • 2 — M
  • 2 — OW
  • 1 — ST
Breakdown by College/Program
  • 266 — Western Ontario
  • 243 — Toronto
  • 218 — Simon Fraser
  • 197 — Queen's
  • 166 — British Columbia (UBC)
  • 158 — Alberta
  • 156 — Calgary
  • 156 — McMaster
  • 140 — McGill
  • 137 — Manitoba
  • 124 — Saskatchewan
  • 122 — Wilfrid Laurier
  • 120 — Ottawa
  • 102 — Guelph
  • 86 — Saint Mary's
  • 81 — Bishop's
  • 73 — Carleton
  • 66 — Laval
  • 64 — Concordia
  • 62 — Waterloo
  • 60 — St. Francis Xavier
  • 57 — Windsor
  • 54 — Acadia
  • 50 — York
  • 36 — Mount Allison
  • 34 — Montreal
  • 34 — Waterloo Lutheran
  • 33 — Regina
  • 29 — Weber State
  • 25 — 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, Montana, Royal Military College, Toledo
  • 8 — Boston College, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Tulsa, Western Michigan, Whitworth
  • 7 — Akron, Buffalo, 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, Montana State, Nebraska, Ohio State, Rice, San Diego State, Stanford
  • 4 — 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, Virginia, Wake Forest, Washington, Wyoming, Youngstown State
  • 3 — Brandon, California-Berkeley, California-Los Angeles (UCLA), Central Florida, Columbia, Eastern Oregon, Edinboro, Iowa State, Livingston, Macdonald, Mansfield, Maryland, Moorhead State, Murray State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, North Carolina, Northeast Missouri State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Notre Dame, Pacific, Pennsylvania State, Prince Edward Island, Princeton, South Carolina, Wagner College, Western Illinois, Western Montana, West Virginia, 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, Memphis, Miami (OH), Minnesota State-Moorhead, Nevada-Reno, 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, Washburn, Wayne State, 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, Bucknell, California Lutheran, 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, Houston Baptist, 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, Ohio, Oklahoma, 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, 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