The 2025 CFL national draft was a selection of national players by Canadian Football League teams that took place on April 29, 2025 at 6:00 pm ET. Seventy-two players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA.
Format As per the 2022 collective bargaining agreement, the two teams that had National players featured in the highest percentage of snaps played in the 2024 CFL season were each awarded an additional second-round pick. The Winnipeg Blue Bombers and BC Lions were awarded these selections for the second consecutive year.
Top prospects Finalranking Januaryranking Augustranking Player Position University Hometown 1 3 - Elic Ayomanor Wide receiver Stanford Medicine Hat, AB 2 1 1 Kurtis Rourke Quarterback Indiana Oakville, ON 3 2 3 Paris Shand Defensive lineman LSU Toronto, ON 4 - - Connor Shay Linebacker Wyoming Danville, CA 5 5 10 Keelan White Wide receiver Montana North Vancouver, BC 6 - - Tiger Shanks Offensive lineman UNLV Lake Oswego, OR 7 - 2 Damien Alford Wide receiver Utah Montreal, QC 8 13 19 Darien Newell Defensive lineman Queen's Brampton, ON 9 9 - Hayden Harris Defensive lineman Montana Mill Creek, WA 10 11 - Christopher Fortin Offensive lineman Connecticut Saint-René, QC 11 12 - Ali Saad Defensive lineman Bowling Green Windsor, ON 12 4 8 Isaiah Bagnah Defensive lineman BYU Lethbridge, AB 13 8 5 Jackson Findlay Defensive back Western North Vancouver, BC 14 20 - Taylor Elgersma Quarterback Wilfrid Laurier London, ON 15 6 20 Jaylen Smith Defensive back North Texas Hamilton, ON 16 7 14 Jeremiah Ojo Defensive lineman Montreal Montreal, QC 17 17 - Samuel Carson Offensive lineman Louisiana–Monroe Calgary, AB 18 10 17 Erik Andersen Offensive lineman Western London, ON 19 15 15 Devin Veresuk Linebacker Windsor Windsor, ON 20 19 - Nate Beauchemin Defensive back Calgary Kelowna, BC - 14 16 Nate Martey Defensive lineman Arkansas State Ottawa, ON - 16 - Ethan Jordan Wide receiver Wilfrid Laurier Chatham, ON - 18 - Isaiah Knight Running back British Columbia Ottawa, ON - - 4 Eric Schon Offensive lineman Duke Barrie, ON - - 6 Nolan Ulm Wide receiver Eastern Washington Kelowna, BC - - 7 Akheem Mesidor Defensive lineman Miami (FL) Ottawa, ON - - 9 Wesley Bailey Defensive lineman Rutgers Ottawa, ON - - 11 Jett Elad Defensive back UNLV Mississauga, ON - - 12 Rene Konga Defensive lineman Louisville Ottawa, ON - - 13 Devynn Cromwell Defensive back Texas Tech Toronto, ON - - 18 Harold Miessan Linebacker Montreal Montreal, QC
Draft order Source:
Round one Pick # CFL team Player Position University 1 Calgary Stampeders Damien Alford WR Utah 2 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Devin Veresuk LB Windsor Edmonton Elks Selection forfeited BC Lions Selection forfeited 3 Ottawa Redblacks Keelan White WR Montana 4 Saskatchewan Roughriders Ali Saad DL Bowling Green 5 Montreal Alouettes Tiger Shanks OL UNLV 6 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Connor Shay LB Wyoming 7 Toronto Argonauts Jeremiah Ojo DL Montreal 8 Calgary Stampeders (via BC forfeiture) Christopher Fortin OL Connecticut
Round two Pick # CFL team Player Position University BC Lions (via Calgary) Selection forfeited 9 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Isaiah Bagnah DL BYU 10 Edmonton Elks Darien Newell DL Queen's 11 BC Lions Hayden Harris DL Montana 12 Ottawa Redblacks Samuel Carson OL Louisiana–Monroe 13 Saskatchewan Roughriders Erik Andersen OL Western 14 Montreal Alouettes Nate Beauchemin DB Calgary 15 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Jaylen Smith DB North Texas 16 BC Lions (via Toronto) Jackson Findlay DB Western 17 Calgary Stampeders (via BC forfeiture) Quincy Vaughn TE North Dakota Winnipeg Blue Bombers Taylor Elgersma QB Wilfrid Laurier Toronto Argonauts (via BC) Paris Shand DL LSU
Round three Pick # CFL team Player Position University 20 Calgary Stampeders Anton Haie DB Laval 21 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Arvin Hosseini OL British Columbia 22 Edmonton Elks Skyler Griffith TE British Columbia 23 Montreal Alouettes (via BC) Gabriel Lessard LB Montreal 24 Edmonton Elks (via Ottawa) Isaiah Knight RB British Columbia 25 Saskatchewan Roughriders Kurtis Rourke QB Indiana 26 Montreal Alouettes Hakeem Harris WR Davenport 27 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Ethan Vibert OL South Dakota State 28 Hamilton Tiger-Cats (via Toronto) Mack Bannatyne DB Alberta
Round four Pick # CFL team Player Position University 29 Toronto Argonauts (via Calgary and BC) Gavin Coakes OL British Columbia 30 Toronto Argonauts (via Hamilton) Istvan Assibo-Dadzie DB Windsor 31 Edmonton Elks Silas Hubert DL Queen's 32 Calgary Stampeders (via BC) Nicky Farinaccio LB Montreal 33 Ottawa Redblacks Muftah Ageli DL Northwestern Oklahoma State 34 Saskatchewan Roughriders Seth Hundeby LB Saskatchewan 35 Montreal Alouettes Keanu Yazbeck RB Western 36 Hamilton Tiger-Cats (via Winnipeg) Ty Anderson DL Alberta 37 BC Lions (via Toronto) Connor Klassen OL Regina
Round five Pick # CFL team Player Position University 38 Calgary Stampeders Vyshonne Janusas WR Guelph 39 Winnipeg Blue Bombers (via Hamilton) Joey Corcoran WR New Hampshire 40 Edmonton Elks Domenico Piazza OL McGill 41 BC Lions Dre Doiron OL Kansas 42 Ottawa Redblacks Eric Cumberbatch DB Ottawa 43 Saskatchewan Roughriders Liam Hoskins LB Windsor 44 Montreal Alouettes Gabriel Maisonneuve DL Montreal 45 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Lane Novak LB Saskatchewan 46 Toronto Argonauts Jaylen Rayam LB UTEP
Round six Pick # CFL team Player Position University 47 Calgary Stampeders Ludovick Choquette RB Long Island 48 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Ronan Horrall DB British Columbia 49 Edmonton Elks Daniel Hocevar OL Guelph 50 BC Lions Chase Tataryn LB Alberta 51 Ottawa Redblacks Ethan Jordan WR Wilfrid Laurier 52 Saskatchewan Roughriders Gideon Agyei DB Calgary 53 Montreal Alouettes Isaac Gaillaretz WR Laval 54 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Ethan Ball DB Calgary 55 Toronto Argonauts Joey Zorn RB Windsor
Round seven Pick # CFL team Player Position University 56 Calgary Stampeders Matthew Stokman OL Manitoba 57 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Jake Nitychoruk DB Manitoba 58 Edmonton Elks Kolby Hurford WR Alberta 59 BC Lions Alex Berwick OL Western 60 Ottawa Redblacks Jayden Griffiths LB Wilfrid Laurier 61 Calgary Stampeders (via Saskatchewan) Max von Muehldorfer DL Western 62 Montreal Alouettes Jonathan Sénécal QB Montreal 63 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Trey Laing DL Eastern Michigan 64 Toronto Argonauts Ethan Pyle OL Guelph
Round eight Pick # CFL team Player Position University 65 Calgary Stampeders Ashton Miller-Melancon DB Queen's 66 Hamilton Tiger-Cats Nate Martey DL Arkansas State Edmonton Elks Selection forfeited 67 BC Lions Luka Stoikos RB Toronto 68 Ottawa Redblacks King Ambers DB East Texas A&M 69 Saskatchewan Roughriders Daniel Wiebe WR Saskatchewan 70 Montreal Alouettes Riley MacLeod LB Western 71 Winnipeg Blue Bombers Iwinosa Uwubanmwen OL Alberta 72 Toronto Argonauts DeEmetrius Masuka DB McMaster
Trades In the explanations below, (D) denotes trades that took place during the draft, while (PD) indicates trades completed pre-draft.
Round two Calgary → BC (PD). Calgary traded the ninth overall pick and the 29th overall pick in this year's draft and a second-round pick in the 2026 CFL draft to BC in exchange for Vernon Adams, the 32nd overall pick in this year's draft, and a third-round pick in the 2026 CFL draft. Toronto ↔ BC (D). Toronto traded the 16th and 37th overall picks to BC in exchange for the 19th and 29th overall picks.
Round three Ottawa → Edmonton (PD). Ottawa traded a third-round pick in this year's draft to Edmonton in exchange for Peter Adjey. BC → Montreal (PD). BC traded a third-round pick in this year's draft to Montreal in exchange for Jeshrun Antwi. Toronto → Hamilton (PD). Toronto traded a conditional fourth-round pick in this year's draft, Jordan Williams, and the seventh overall selection, a second-round pick, and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 CFL draft to Hamilton in exchange for a conditional third-round pick in this year's draft, the fifth overall selection and two third-round picks in the 2024 CFL draft, and the negotiation rights to Deontay Burnett. The condition was not met and Toronto traded a third-round pick instead.
Round four Calgary ↔ BC (PD). Calgary traded the 29th overall pick and the ninth overall pick in this year's draft and a second-round pick in the 2026 CFL draft to BC in exchange for Vernon Adams, the 32nd overall pick in this year's draft, and a third-round pick in the 2026 CFL draft. Hamilton → Toronto (PD). Hamilton traded a conditional third-round pick in this year's draft, the fifth overall selection and two third-round picks in the 2024 CFL draft, and the negotiation rights to Deontay Burnett to Toronto in exchange for Jordan Williams, the seventh overall selection, a second-round pick, and a fourth-round pick in the 2024 CFL draft, and a conditional fourth-round pick in this year's draft. The condition was not met and Hamilton traded a fourth-round pick instead. Winnipeg → Hamilton (PD). Winnipeg traded the 36th overall pick in this year's draft, the eighth overall pick in the 2025 CFL global draft, and Kyle Samson to Hamilton in exchange for Matthew Peterson, the 39th overall pick in this year's draft, and the second overall pick in the 2025 CFL global draft. Toronto ↔ BC (D). Toronto traded the 16th and 37th overall picks to BC in exchange for the 19th and 29th overall picks.
Round five Hamilton → Winnipeg (PD). Hamilton traded the 39th overall pick in this year's draft, the second overall pick in the 2025 CFL global draft, and Matthew Peterson to Winnipeg in exchange for Kyle Samson, the 36th overall pick in this year's draft, and the eighth overall pick in the 2025 CFL global draft.
Round seven Saskatchewan → Calgary (PD). Saskatchewan traded an eighth-round pick in this year's draft to Calgary in exchange for Jake Maier. This became a seventh-round pick when Maier re-signed with Saskatchewan on January 9, 2025.
Forfeitures Supplemental draft Edmonton forfeited their first-round pick after selecting Zach Mathis in the 2024 supplemental draft. Edmonton forfeited their eighth-round pick after selecting Antonio Alfano in the 2024 supplemental draft.
Salary cap BC forfeited the highest of their first-round and second-round picks (third and ninth overall) after exceeding the salary cap by more than $300,000 ($347,889). As the team with the highest priority waiver, Calgary was awarded BC's forfeited selections at the end of the first and second rounds (eighth and 17th overall).
References Trade references
General references