CFL and Players’ Association have started negotiating new collective bargaining agreement: report

Photo courtesy: CFL

The Canadian Football League and the CFL Players’ Association have formally started negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement, according to TSN’s Dave Naylor.

Formal CBA bargaining between the CFL and the CFLPA began this past week. The two sides have been sharing information for months leading-up to this part of the process.

The CFLPA announced that it had filed written notice to begin bargaining a new CBA with the CFL in late February, a necessary step under provincial labour laws in Canada.

The existing collective agreement between the CFL and CFLPA was ratified prior to the 2019 season and was amended prior to the 2021 season to help facilitate a safe return to play under pandemic restrictions. This proved successful, as the league played a 14-game regular season in 2021 with only one contest being postponed due to COVID-19.

The current collective bargaining agreement expires on May 14, 2022.

One of the issues that could be addressed in CBA negotiations is player transiency, which has reached extremely high levels since one-year contracts were introduced for veteran players in 2014.