The first regular-season road trip for some Ottawa Redblacks player won’t be to Montreal for a June 25 game against the Alouettes, but rather to Ogdensburg or some other location just over the Canada-U. S. border.
Paperwork will be involved, naturally.
Canadian Football League hopefuls must sign contracts so they can participate in training camp, but they don’t receive a salary until the regular season begins. Only then can players from the United States complete the documentation required for work permits, so they’re essentially visitors to Canada until that point.
CFL teams must declare their regular-season rosters by June 20. However, general manager Marcel Desjardins said Thursday that the Redblacks, having played preseason contests against the Alouettes and Hamilton Tiger-Cats and an intrasquad scrimmage in Gatineau by then, hoped to have roster decisions finalized one day before the deadline.
That would also allow team representatives to drive those U.S. players requiring Canadian work permits to a border crossing for processing on that Friday. Because the Redblacks kick off the CFL regular season at Montreal on June 25, coaches hope to use the preceding Saturday for team meetings, with on-field workouts resuming on June 21.
Punter/kicker Trey Barrow, one of the hopefuls currently in rookie camp at Carleton University, said earlier this week that he had to get border agents to Google his name and “Redblacks” so he could enter Canada as a visitor.
