Canadian College Draft

The Canadian College Draft (also known as the CFL Canadian Draft, CFL College Draft or simply 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. Since 2014, U Sports players become eligible for the Canadian College Draft three years after completing their first year of eligibility at university. Additionally, NCAA and NAIA players are eligible to be selected after completing their senior season of eligibility. Prior to this change, all players would become eligible four years after first attending a post-secondary institution, leading many players to return to school after being drafted. University and college players are not permitted to enter the league without being subject to the draft and players are only eligible to be drafted once.

Formerly held as part of annual league meetings in Hamilton, and occasionally televised, the draft was previously held via conference call. In 2007, the league began producing a free webcast of the event. Starting in 2009, the first two rounds were broadcast live on TSN.

Before the Canadian College Draft was implemented, teams selected players based on territorial rights. For the sake of fair competition, a draft would be held to ensure an equal representation of players and talent. An experimental draft was held in 1952 by what was then the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union (now the East Division of the CFL); the first formal Canadian football draft was held the next year. Selection was limited to players from five universities in Ontario and Quebec: McGill University, Queen's University, University of Toronto, University of Western Ontario, and McMaster University. The Montreal Alouettes selected Doug McNichol from Western Ontario as he became the first Canadian football player to be drafted.

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