As the CFL prepares to roll out sweeping structural changes for the 2027 season, they will not be uniformly adopted across the country.
Football Canada, the national governing body that oversees local, regional, and provincial amateur leagues, indicated that it does not intend to follow the CFL’s rule changes, including the changes to field dimensions and locations of the goalposts in the end zone.
In a story initially reported by Radio Canada, Football Canada cited a constraint on resources as the reason the organization will not be adopting the changes the CFL is making.
“Football Canada’s rules and field specifications are established independently and apply to competitions governed by our rule book,” Football Canada CEO Eva Havaris wrote in a statement to Sportsnet. “We respect the CFL’s decision to evolve its game.
Given the operational and resource implications of changes of this nature and some of the constraints Football Canada has as an NSO, the organization has no plans to make corresponding changes for the upcoming season.”
In September 2025, the CFL announced major changes to the field dimensions for the 2027 season, shrinking the 110-yard field down to 100 yards. As part of the changes, the end zones will be 15 yards instead of 20 yards and the goalposts will be moved to the back of the end zone.
Part of the issue amateur organizations face is that facilities would require retrofitting in order to accommodate the changes the CFL is making. While some stadiums with painted field lines can be redrawn, some have artificial turf fields with their lines permanently sewn into the surface, which could require a new surface to be brought in.
U Sports is not governed by Football Canada, so the governing body for university sports ultimately makes the decision whether to follow the CFL’s lead or keep things status quo. For the time being, it will be the latter option.
“U Sports uses Canadian Amateur Football rules and we are aligned with Football Canada’s decision to retain the current field dimensions,” U Sports said in a statement to Sportsnet. “Our universities have invested millions of dollars in their fields and so we will not be making changes at this point.”
One issue is that CFL and U Sports teams share facilities in Montreal, Calgary, Winnipeg, and Regina.
“As for the universities who share venues with CFL teams, the parties continue to dialogue on how CFL clubs will address the need to accommodate both fields beginning next year,” U Sports said in a statement.
The CFL said that the financial responsibility will be on the league and its teams to handle the retrofitting for the stadiums it shares with U Sports teams.
“The field dimensions that will be implemented by the CFL in 2027 were developed with a focus on modernizing the professional game,” the CFL wrote in a statement. “Across sports, it is common for rules at the professional level to differ from those at the junior and amateur levels at the time of introduction.
“Time will tell if some or all rules are later adopted. The decision ultimately lies with U Sports, its conferences, and its member institutions. In venues that are shared by teams from both parties, the repositioning of the goalposts and updating field dimensions as required is the responsibility of CFL clubs, and not U Sports organizations.”
So, for example, the Montreal Alouettes would be responsible for covering the cost of any modifications required at Percival Molson Stadium, even though it is owned by McGill University.
Not only will the CFL be on its own when it comes to the field dimensions, U Sports will not be following the league’s lead when it comes to rules such as the revamped rouge (single point), and automatic play clock.
“The technical rules (playing regulations) are reviewed annually by our coaches and sport technical committee who are our subject matter experts,” U Sports explained. “To date, there are no changes to our playing regulations to mirror CFL changes.
It is not uncommon to see other Canadian amateur organizations not follow rule changes made by the CFL.
When the CFL narrowed the width of its hashmarks in 2022, U Sports never adopted the rule change.
Also, in some provinces, high-school teams play four downs instead of the traditional three-down rule that U Sports and the CFL use.