TORONTO — The Canadian Football League and its players’ union have reached a tentative agreement on a new labor contract, ending the second strike in CFL history, the league said Wednesday night.
The contract must be ratified by both the CFL board of governors and the CFL Players’ Association, but the expectation is players will report to their teams Thursday and go through a walkthrough.
The new collective bargaining agreement comes four days after players with seven of the league’s nine teams did not show up for the start of training camp.
Talks between the league and union broke off Saturday.
The previous deal, originally signed in 2019 and amended for a shortened 2021 campaign, expired at midnight Saturday, putting the players on the seven squads in a legal strike position.
Players with the Edmonton Elks and Calgary Stampeders reported to camp because they weren’t in a legal strike position under Alberta labor laws. Those players would have been eligible to walk off the job Thursday.
The regular season kicks off June 9 with the Montreal Alouettes in Calgary to face the Stampeders.
The previous CFL strike, in 1974, was also settled before the season began.