Canadian Football League Canada Day games

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

### By year

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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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