As a result of the law of supply and demand, it is more economical to hire American players versus Canadians. 

“If you’re a general manager, and there are only a handful of Canadian receivers who can compete with a large number of American receivers, it makes them (Canadians) more valuable,” former Canadian player Jock Climie said. “There is an upward pressure on Canadian salaries, as a result of the ratio.” 

In the NCAA, there are 133 Division 1 football programs, producing thousands of players eligible for professional careers every year. In stark contrast, there are only 27 U SPORTS football programs in Canada, meaning there is a smaller talent pool to c

Gregory Peterson, a Canadian who played for nine seasons with the Calgary Stampeders, went to Brigham Young University in Utah for his college football career because American football culture is more established in terms of both resources and fan support. 

“With Canadian college football, they get 10,000 fans out at the most,” Peterson said. “I loved playing and training in the U.S. I loved the atmosphere at the games. We just don’t have it at the same level in Canada.” 

Furthermore, Canadian youth-level sports do not have the same system of recruitment and funding as their American counterparts. 

“In the U.S. they’re paying high school coaches six-figure salaries,” Dickenson said. &#

Canadian high school and minor league sports often rely on donations to operate at a recreational level, rather than as a business. 

“We simply just don’t have big-time high school football,” long-time Canadian sports journalist Steve Milton said. “You don’t see any high school stadiums of 15 to 25,000 like we do in the United States.”

As a result of Canadian football being underfunded, there are constraints put on who can participate in the sport at a high-performance level.

“There is more opportunity in the United States for people from diverse backgrounds to have an opportunity to play football,” said Ron Foxcroft, NCAA referee and consultant to the Canadian Professional Football Officials Association. “If you’re going to play in Canada, you better expect to pay for it on your own. We just don’t have the same level of budgets for scholarships.” 

In other words, the Canadian model of player development works against equal opportunities for inclusion. 

Dwindling fan support

Unlike many other professional sports leagues, the CFL

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which involved the cancellation of the 2020 season and significantly reduced attendance in 2021, the league lost an estimated $80 million. Teams have expressed concern about both sustaining and diversifying their fanbases as well.

To put this into perspective, according to the Angus Reid Institute, 62 percent of football fans in Canada would opt to watch the NFL’s Super Bowl over the CFL’s Grey Cup. Furthermore, in the country’s largest city, the 2022 Grey C

“Back in the 80s, the CFL did a very poor job marketing to young people. They lost an entire generation of fans,” Foxcroft said. “With the NFL, they focused on the younger crowd.” 

For the CFL to go on, some argue that changes must be made, starting with a focus on what the fans want. The question is, could a changed ratio rule that focuses on supporting Canadian talent be part of the fix? 

Promoting Canadian talent

Many Canadian players seem to think so. Stu Laird, a former Canadian player and the former president of the CFL Players Association, says he would not have gotten the oppor

“The ratio helps quite a bit in the development of the Canadian player. It highlights local talent,” Laird said. “There are a lot of fans that like to see the Canadian players in the league competing. At the end of the day, it becomes the fan’s game.” 

David Estok, a lifelong CFL fan and former editor of The Hamilton Spectator, the hometown paper of the CFL’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats, shares this sentiment.  

“With CFL players, you know they aren’t doing it for the money or the fame,” Estok said. “They’re doing it because they love football.” 

Considering the fact that Canadian football players are mo

“To grow the CFL, we have to grow grassroots football,” Peterson said. “ Without the ratio, I don’t think we’d have many kids aspiring to play. If we’re going to get Canadians playing in the CFL, the best way to do it is to give them time to develop.” 

This is something that the CFL has already begun to take note of. In 2022, the CFLPA launched the “First Down” initiative to help introduce kids to the sport. 

“Randy Ambrosie (the CFL Commissioner) is starting to ch

Alanna Nolan, a lifelong CFL fan and former sideline reporter for the Calgary Stampeders, notes that the league could benefit from marketing to female fans as well. 

“When it comes to attracting female fans, I think it’s just an understanding of the game that can sometimes act as a barrier,” Nolan said. “I think if we do a better job of making this game accessible we can really open up t

Where does the CFL go from here?

The CFL has proposed an expansion into Atlantic Canada, specifically motivated by the fact that the league has a large fanbase in Halifax. However, a tenth team would mean at least 21 new Canadian players to satisfy the ratio. 

Many people involved in this debate agree on one thing: for the ratio to serve a purpose, it must be revised to be less complicated. 

“Back in the 1960s, the ratio just needed 21 Canadians. And if you played in the league for five years, you were deemed to be a Canadian,” Foxcroft said. “We all understood it, it was real simple. I’m the most ardent CFL fan

The intricacies of the 2023 version of the rule cause issues for the league on several fronts. 

“It is a confusing deal,” Dickenson said. “It causes confusion for the players, and you try to explain it to them but they don’t understand why they can’t run out of the tunnel as a starter.”

Ultimately, without happy players, there are no happy fans. 

CFL fans are ride or die