I am frequently asked questions regarding the CFL rosters, injury lists, reserve list, practice roster list and the CFL ratio.  I thought it would be of benefit to provide information about CFL rosters.

The CFL permits a roster of 46 players (“46-Man Active Roster”). Thus, with 8 teams in the CFL (8 X 46) there are 368 players in the CFL. If practice rosters and injury lists are included, there are over 400 players employed in the CFL.

The 46-Man Active Roster must be declared on a weekly basis. All 46 players on this roster receive a full salary.  One hour prior to the start of every game, a team must declare a 4 man reserve list from the players on the 46-man Active Roster.  The 4 players on this reserve list do not dress for the game but still receive a full salary pay check for that week. Of the 46-Man Active Roster, 19 of the 46 players must be a “non-import player” (essentially Canadians). A non-import player is defined as a player –

“who has resided in Canada an aggregate of at least seven (7) of their first fifteen (15) years or a person who is a Canadian citizen and was physically resident in Canada for an aggregate period of five (5) years prior to the age of 18 years.” 

Any player not a “non-import player” is an “import player’ (essentially Americans).  There is no requirement to have any “import players” on a team's 46-Man Active Roster. However, most teams use as many “import players” as the rules permit and thus, of the 46-Man Active Roster, most teams carry 27 “import players” and the required 19 “non-import players”.  If a team is “stacked” with great Canadian talent, a team could declare on their 46-man Active Roster, less than the 27 permitted import players. For example, my last year of playing for the Stampeders (1992), we had outstanding Canadian talent.  For the 1992 Grey Cup game, the roster for that game included 25 import players and 21 non-import players (Canadians).

I hope this helps you better understand this rules.  My next few blogs I will discuss the injuring lists, practice roster lists and negotiation list. 

Go Stamps Go

Greg Peterson