CFL Training Camps Open With Grey Cup Aspirations Across the League

The Canadian Football League's 2026 season is officially under way. Training camps opened around the country on Sunday, May 10, with all nine clubs gathering veterans and rookies for three weeks of practice and preseason play before the regular season kicks off on June 4 with the Montreal Alouettes visiting the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. The defending Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders set the bar after a wire-to-wire 2025 run that ended a championship drought stretching back more than a decade.

The opening of camps signals the start of what is shaping up as one of the more competitive years in recent league memory. Several teams have made significant roster moves in free agency, coaching staffs have turned over in multiple cities, and a wave of veteran retirements has created openings for younger players across positions. The June 4 season opener will mark the league's first regular-season game played under a slightly revised replay protocol and an updated salary cap regime.

The Roughriders carry the load

Saskatchewan enters the 2026 season as the team to beat. Last year's Grey Cup run, which included a regular-season record that led the league and a playoff path that featured convincing wins in both the Western Final and the championship game, has reset expectations in Regina after years of frustrating near-misses.

The Roughriders did lose some pieces in free agency, most notably edge rusher Malik Carney, who signed a two-year deal with the Edmonton Elks after a career season in Saskatchewan. That kind of departure is the cost of success in the salary-capped CFL, where teams that win often see role players priced out by competitors. Head coach Corey Mace and general manager Jeremy O'Day have replaced most of those losses with a combination of draft picks, free agents and Canadian content signings designed to maintain depth.

Quarterback Trevor Harris returns as the team's leader, supported by a receiving corps that finished near the top of the league in yards per catch and a defensive front that, despite Carney's departure, retains substantial talent. Saskatchewan's training camp focus, according to early reports from Regina, has been on installing additional wrinkles to its run game and tightening special teams play.

The Elks aim to return to the playoffs

The Edmonton Elks have not played a playoff game in six years, the longest postseason drought in the franchise's modern history. The 2026 offseason has been about ending that streak. The signing of Malik Carney was the headline move, but the team also added depth across the offensive line and brought in new coordinators on both sides of the ball.

The Elks' camp opens with a clearer sense of identity than has been the case in any of the past three seasons. Head coach Jarious Jackson, in his second full year on the job, has signalled that the team's plan is to build around defensive pressure and a power-running offence that takes advantage of the new Canadian content rules. Quarterback Tre Ford returns and is expected to take the starting reins after a strong second half last season.

The expectations in Edmonton remain modest by historical standards. A return to the playoffs, even as a crossover team in the West, would constitute a real success for a franchise that has struggled both competitively and commercially since the early 2020s.

The Alouettes get to work in Quebec City

The Montreal Alouettes will hold their training camp at Université Laval's PEPS facility in Quebec City from May 10 through May 29, an unusual decision that reflects both renovations at Olympic Stadium and head coach Jason Maas's preference for a focused, off-site camp environment. The Als are coming off a strong 2025 season that fell short of the Grey Cup but established the team as a perennial Eastern contender.

The team's offence, led by quarterback Davis Alexander and supported by a deep receiving corps, returns largely intact. Defensive coordinator Noel Thorpe will be looking to reassemble a unit that ranked near the top of the league in turnovers last season but has lost two starting defensive backs in free agency. Camp drills have emphasised secondary communication and pass rush development.

The Quebec City venue itself has become a minor storyline. The choice of Université Laval has been welcomed by the city's football fans, who have long lobbied for an Eastern Conference team to consider relocation or expansion to the provincial capital. Maas has been careful in his public comments not to suggest that the camp move signals anything about the future of the franchise's home market, which remains firmly in Montreal.

The Lions look to take another step

The BC Lions enter the season under second-year head coach Buck Pierce, who has spoken at length about applying lessons from last year's narrower-than-expected playoff loss. Pierce has emphasised that the team's offensive game plan will rely more heavily on the running game, partly to control the pace and partly to take some pressure off quarterback Nathan Rourke, who returns for what could be his most ambitious season yet.

Rourke's status remains the central story in BC. The Victoria-born quarterback, who has spent stretches of his career in the NFL, has committed to the Lions for at least 2026 and has spoken publicly about the importance of completing a CFL championship before any further professional moves. His health and ability to handle the full season's workload will be among the league's most-watched storylines.

The Lions' defence, anchored by veteran Mathieu Betts on the edge, returns most of its core. Camp opened on Sunday with a focus on first-down efficiency and red-zone defence, two areas where the team gave up critical yards last season. The BC Place schedule for the World Cup means the team will play several home games at temporary venues in early summer, an inconvenience that head coach Pierce has acknowledged publicly.

Winnipeg, Hamilton and the Eastern teams

The Winnipeg Blue Bombers opened camp on a frigid Sunday morning at Princess Auto Stadium. The team enters the season after a disappointing 2025 campaign in which the offensive line and quarterback inconsistency derailed what had been a championship-calibre roster. Head coach Mike O'Shea has emphasised practice intensity through the first days of camp and has signalled that competition at virtually every position will be open.

Quarterback Zach Collaros remains the starter but will face pressure from a more experienced backup and a younger Canadian quarterback who impressed in last year's exhibition slate. The team's receiving corps has been bolstered by a free agent signing and the return of a veteran who missed most of 2025 to injury. The Bombers' window with their veteran core is narrowing, and 2026 is widely seen as a must-improve season.

In the East, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Toronto Argonauts both face transitional moments. Hamilton will host the Alouettes on June 4 in the league's season opener, a marquee assignment for a team that has been rebuilding for several years. The Argonauts, after a tough 2025, have made significant front-office and coaching changes designed to restore the championship culture that brought a Grey Cup to Toronto in 2022.

The Ottawa Redblacks rebuild

The Ottawa Redblacks remain the league's most challenging long-term project. Multiple losing seasons, a thin Canadian content pipeline and a coaching staff that has had limited continuity have all weighed on the franchise. Recent reports out of training camp focus on the defence, where new coordinator hopes to install a faster, more aggressive style of play that better suits the personnel.

The team's offensive future may hinge on the development of quarterback Dru Brown, who has flashed potential without consistently delivering across a full season. Brown's growth, paired with a more disciplined run game, will determine whether the Redblacks can climb back into contention in an East Division that is more open than its Western counterpart.

Front-office stability remains an issue. The team's leadership group has been clear that 2026 is a year in which incremental progress would constitute success, with a deeper rebuild potentially extending into 2027.

What's at stake league-wide

The CFL enters 2026 in a relatively stable position commercially. Television ratings on TSN held up well in 2025, attendance was steady in most markets, and the league's new collective bargaining agreement provides a clear cost structure through 2028. The relationship with the Canadian Football League Players' Association has improved meaningfully under commissioner Stewart Johnston, who has prioritised player health and safety in his early communications.

The June 4 season opener will be the first official chance for fans to see the new on-field rules in action, including a slightly revised replay protocol designed to speed up reviews and a clarified roughing-the-passer threshold. Special teams play has also been adjusted, with kickoff rules edged closer to alignment with NFL standards.

The Grey Cup, scheduled for November 22 in Vancouver at BC Place, will close the season with a championship game that the league hopes will attract a strong national audience. The build-up to that game will include a Western Final scheduled for November 8 and an Eastern Final scheduled for November 15.

What's next

Camps run through the end of May, with each team playing two preseason games before the June 4 opener. The Argonauts have set up their preseason logistics around an off-site arrangement in Guelph, while the Stampeders, Lions and Roughriders will use their main facilities. Roster cut-down deadlines arrive in late May, when each team must trim its squad to the regular-season limit.

For fans, the most immediate test will come on opening night when the Alouettes head to Hamilton. That game will offer the first window into how the offseason changes across the league translate into on-field results. Saskatchewan opens its title defence on June 5 at home against the Calgary Stampeders, a classic Western Division matchup that is expected to draw a sellout to Mosaic Stadium.

The CFL season runs through November, with each team playing 18 games before the playoffs. The path to the Grey Cup will be tougher this year than last in a league that, despite its compact size, continues to produce competitive surprises in almost every season.