The Canadian Football League has unveiled its full offseason calendar for 2026, highlighted by a draft day tweak.
The 2026 CFL Draft for Canadian prospects will take place on Tuesday, April 28, at 7:00 p.m. EST. However, the 2026 Global Draft, its counterpart for international players, will no longer occur on the same day. It will instead be spaced out a day later, on Wednesday, April 29, at 1:00 p.m. EST, to give teams more flexibility.
Other key dates in the lead-up to the draft include the CFL Kicking Showcase in San Diego, Calif., on Sunday, February 22, and the Invitational Combine in Waterloo, Ont., on Friday, March 6. The 2026 CFL Combine will take place in Edmonton, Alta., from March 27 to 29.
Once players have been selected, rookie camps will officially open across the league on Wednesday, May 6. Teams will then have to trim their rosters to 85 players, excluding non-counters, by Saturday, May 9. Training camps will officially commence the next day on Sunday, May 10, before another cut down to 75 players on May 12. Training camps officially conclude on May 30.
Before any of that can occur, teams will have to flesh out their rosters in free agency. The free agency communication window will officially open on Sunday, February 1, at 12:00 p.m. EST and close at the same time on Sunday, February 8. Teams will then have 48 hours to try to retain their own pending free agents before free agency opens on Tuesday, February 10, at noon.
The CFL regular season will kick off on Thursday, June 4, when the Montreal Alouettes visit the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. A full offseason breakdown can be found below.
2026 OFFSEASON KEY DATES
(Times in ET unless specified otherwise)
February 1 at noon to February 8 at noon – Free Agency Communication Window
February 10 at noon – Free Agency opens
February 22 – CFL Kicking Showcase in San Diego, Calif.
March 6 – CFL Invitational Combine, followed by the CFL Free Agent Camp, in Waterloo, Ont.
March 25 – GM/Head Coach Media Day at CFL Combine
March 27-29 – CFL Combine presented by Anytime Fitness in Edmonton
April 28 – CFL Draft at 7 p.m.
April 29 – CFL Global Draft at 1 p.m.
May 6 – Rookie Camps open
May 9 at 11:59 p.m. (local) – Rosters reduced to 85 players, excluding non-counters.
May 10 – Training camps open
May 12 at 11:59 p.m. (local) – Rosters reduced to 75 players, excluding non-counters
Preseason Week 1
Monday, May 18 | SSK at CGY | 3 p.m.
Preseason Week 2
Friday, May 22 | OTT at MTL | 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 23 | TOR at HAM | 4 p.m.
Saturday, May 23 | EDM at BC | 5 p.m.
Saturday, May 23 | WPG at SSK | 7 p.m.
Preseason Week 3
Friday, May 29 | HAM at TOR | 7 p.m.
Friday, May 29 | MTL at OTT | 7 p.m.
Friday, May 29 | BC at WPG | 8:30 p.m.
Friday, May 29 | CGY at EDM | 9 p.m.
May 30 – End of training camp
Regular season Week 1
Thursday, June 4 | MTL at HAM | 7:30 p.m.
Friday, June 5 | WPG at CGY | 9 p.m.
Saturday, June 6 | EDM at OTT | 7 p.m.
