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Canadian Football League Canada Day games are an occasional part of the league's schedule and occur only when the league schedule begins on or before July 1. The games are not an annual occurrence, unlike the Labour Day or Thanksgiving Day games. As of the 2023 CFL season, there have been 24 games played on Canada Day.

History

In 1984, the CFL played regular season games in June for the first time in league history. [1] Consequently, the league also had its first Canada Day regular season game that year, with the Toronto Argonauts defeating the host Saskatchewan Roughriders 25–10. After the league expanded to an 18-game schedule in 1986, the chances of a Canada Day game became greater with an earlier start to the season and a second one was played in 1987. When the Montreal Alouettes franchise folded after the 1987 pre-season and the league reverted to eight teams, the regular season schedule didn't start until the second week of July.

When the league expended to 13 teams in 1995, scheduling difficulties necessitated an earlier start to the season, on June 28, 1995. Two games, one involving Canadian teams, were held on July 1. (While the San Antonio Texans hosted the Shreveport Pirates on July 1, 1995, this game was held between American teams in the United States, where Canada Day is not observed; no games were hosted in the U.S. on the Fourth of July.) Following the collapse of the CFL American teams and the Ottawa Rough Riders, the CFL was once again an eight-team league and typically started after July 1. The league did, however, have its first true Canada Day doubleheader in 1998, which was also the first time that the league began the regular season on Canada Day. [2]

When the CFL returned to Ottawa in 2002, it again meant that the regular season schedule would begin in June and Canada Day games would return. Games were played on July 1 in 2003, 2005, and 2006, with the league originally scheduling the Montreal Alouettes and Ottawa Renegades to play in Ottawa in 2006. [3] However, the Ottawa franchise again ceased operations, leaving the league to again start the season later. Despite previous trends of a later schedule start, the CFL made more of an effort to include Canada Day games, promoting a Canada Day season opener in 2009 that also featured the first Canada Day Grey Cup rematch. [4] The league also played Canada Day games in 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, with the Calgary Stampeders hosting for four consecutive years.

As of the 2023 CFL season, Calgary has been the most frequent home team having hosted nine of 23 Canada Day games while never being a visitor. The Argonauts and Lions have never hosted a Canada Day game, but have been the visiting team on multiple occasions. Canada Day games have historically been played when Canada Day falls between Wednesday and Sunday, with the exception coming in 2003 when the Tuesday Canada Day game was played during a week that featured five games being played.

Results

By year

Season Day Visiting team Score Home team Source
1984 Sunday Toronto Argonauts 25–10 Saskatchewan Roughriders [1]
1987 Wednesday BC Lions 40–15 Calgary Stampeders [5]
1995 Saturday Toronto Argonauts 23–45 Edmonton Eskimos [6]
San Antonio Texans 47–24 Shreveport Pirates
1998 Wednesday Montreal Alouettes 27–24 Winnipeg Blue Bombers [7]
Hamilton Tiger-Cats 20–21 Calgary Stampeders
2003 Tuesday Edmonton Eskimos 12–14 Winnipeg Blue Bombers [8]
Ottawa Renegades 12–32 Calgary Stampeders
2005 Friday Montreal Alouettes 36–39 (OT) Ottawa Renegades [9]
Toronto Argonauts 22–16 Calgary Stampeders [10]
2006 Saturday Edmonton Eskimos 10–46 Winnipeg Blue Bombers [11]
2009 Wednesday Toronto Argonauts 30–17 Hamilton Tiger-Cats [12]
Montreal Alouettes 40–27 Calgary Stampeders
2010 Thursday Montreal Alouettes 51–54 (OT) Saskatchewan Roughriders [13]
Toronto Argonauts 16–30 Calgary Stampeders
2011 Friday Winnipeg Blue Bombers 24–16 Hamilton Tiger-Cats [14]
Toronto Argonauts 23–21 Calgary Stampeders
2012 Sunday Montreal Alouettes 10–38 Calgary Stampeders [15]
2016 Friday BC Lions 28–3 Hamilton Tiger-Cats [16]
Winnipeg Blue Bombers 22–36 Calgary Stampeders
2017 Saturday Winnipeg Blue Bombers 43–40 (2OT) Saskatchewan Roughriders [17]
2019 Monday Toronto Argonauts 7–32 Saskatchewan Roughriders [18]
2022 Friday Edmonton Elks 29–25 Hamilton Tiger-Cats [19]
2023 Saturday Winnipeg Blue Bombers 17–3 Montreal Alouettes [20]

By appearance

Appearances Hosted Team Wins Losses Ties Win % Streak
9 9 Calgary Stampeders 5 4 0 0.556 W2
7 0 Toronto Argonauts 4 3 0 0.571 L1
7 3 Winnipeg Blue Bombers 5 2 0 0.714 W2
6 1 Montreal Alouettes 2 4 0 0.333 L3
5 4 Hamilton Tiger-Cats 0 5 0 0.000 L5
4 4 Saskatchewan Roughriders 2 2 0 0.500 W1
4 1 Edmonton Eskimos/Elks 2 2 0 0.500 W2
2 0 BC Lions 2 0 0 1.000 W2
2 1 Ottawa Renegades 1 1 0 0.500 W1
1 0 San Antonio Texans 1 0 0 1.000 W1
1 1 Shreveport Pirates 0 1 0 0.000 L1

References

  1. ^ a b "Canadian Football League 1984 Season Schedule". stats.cfldb.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  2. ^ "Canadian Football League 1998 Season Schedule". stats.cfldb.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  3. ^ "20 Week Schedule to Kickoff on June 16 in Montreal". cfl.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  4. ^ "Let the 2009 season begin". cfl.ca. 2009-06-26. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  5. ^ "Canadian Football League 1987 Season Schedule". stats.cfldb.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  6. ^ "1995 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  7. ^ "1998 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  8. ^ "2003 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  9. ^ "2005 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  10. ^ "2005 Toronto Argonauts". Pro Football Archives. Retrieved 2010-11-07.
  11. ^ "2006 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  12. ^ "2009 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  13. ^ "2010 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  14. ^ "2011 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  15. ^ "2012 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  16. ^ "2016 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  17. ^ "2017 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2017-02-12.
  18. ^ "2019 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2019-07-02.
  19. ^ "2022 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved 2021-12-16.
  20. ^ "2023 Schedule | CFL.ca | Official Site of the Canadian Football League". CFL.ca. Retrieved December 13, 2022.
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