Canadian College Draft The Canadian College Draft ( also known as the CFL Canadian Draft , CFL College Draft or simply CFL Draft ) is an annual sports draft in which the teams of the Canadian Football League ( CFL ) select eligible Canadian / non - import players , typically from the ranks of Canadian Interuniversity Sport football or NCAA college football . Member clubs make selections based on the reverse order of the previous year ' s standings , with the team with the worst record being awarded the first selection . The draft is held once every year , approximately two months prior to the start of the upcoming season . Players become eligible for the Canadian College Draft four years after their first year of play at university , leading some players to return to school after being drafted . University and college players are not permitted to enter the league without being subject to the draft and players are only eligible to be drafted once . Formerly held as part of annual league meetings in Hamilton , and occasionally televised , in recent years the draft has typically been held via conference call . In 2007 , the league began producing a free webcast of the event . Starting in 2009 , the first two rounds are broadcasted live on TSN . History . Before the Canadian College Draft was implemented , teams selected players based on territorial rights . For the sake of fair competition , a draft would be held to ensure an equal representation of players and talent . The first draft was held in 1953 , and only included the eastern teams , Hamilton Tiger - Cats , Toronto Argonauts , Ottawa Rough Riders , and Montreal Alouettes . Selection was limited to five eastern universities , McGill University , Queen ' s University , University of Toronto , University of Western Ontario , and McMaster University . The Montreal Alouettes selected Doug McNichol from Western Ontario as he became the first Canadian football player to be drafted . In 1956 , the five western teams participated in the draft as it became a national event . Players from western universities were also now able to be selected . Additionally , the conference that featured the losing team in the Grey Cup would have its team with the poorest record select first . Further modifications to the structure of the draft took place in the 1973 CFL Draft as Canadian players from American schools would now be eligible for the draft . Prior to this , teams would be awarded territorial rights for non - import players from U . S . based schools based on the territory he was domiciled . Because this would almost eliminate any geographical exemptions , teams would also be permitted to make two territorial exemptions per draft , regardless of school location , beginning in 1973 . Territorial exemptions were last made in 1984 as they were abolished in 1985 , introducing the modern era of the CFL Draft . In 1986 , the draft was reduced from nine rounds to eight rounds and was further reduced to seven rounds in 1993 . In 1997 , the Canadian College Draft consisted of only six rounds , which was a format that was used until it was changed in 2013 when it was expanded to seven rounds . Selection order . The selection order of the draft is based on a combination of the regular season standings and post - season results from the previous season . Non - Grey Cup participants are ranked in reverse order of the previous season ' s standings with the team with the league - worst record being awarded the first overall pick . Any ties between teams in different conferences are decided the same way as tied division opponents : first by season series , then by other tie - breaking formulas . The losing team in the previous year ' s Grey Cup game selects second - last while the winner of the previous year ' s Grey Cup selects last in each round . The order remains the same in each round . Teams are permitted to trade draft picks before and during the draft for either another team ' s draft picks or players . This is a common practice as often some teams will have multiple selections in one round while other teams will make none . Teams may also trade conditional draft picks , meaning the transaction will only occur if a condition is fulfilled ( for example , if a traded player plays enough games or signs a contract extension with his new team ) . See also . List of first overall Canadian Football League draft picks