The coming year does not seem to have any special significance for the CFL, certainly in comparison with the current year. The return of football to Ottawa and a new stadium opening in Hamilton made the 2014 season a banner hear for the league.
But there is one event that is scheduled to occur in Canada next year that could have a significant bearing on the 2015 CFL and into the future: the mid-decade census.
After all its recent successes, the return of football to Ottawa, new stadiums opened in Hamilton and Winnipeg, expanded and renovated ones in Montreal and Vancouver, labor peace, a new television contract, and an attempt to spread football to the Maritimes with Touchdown Atlantic, where does the CFL go from here?
One of the measuring sticks that is used to judge the well-being of the CFL is expansion. Now that the league has nine teams again, there remains the problem of crashing through that double-digit barrier.
Currently Canadian football is played in cities ranging from the largest to the 18th-largest in population. Population growth has to be one of the key factors in determining future expansion so next year’s census has to be noted by the CFL for possible future growth.
The mid-decade census is not as formal as the one held at the turn of each decade, but the CFL can use the new data gathered to plot its own future course.
The CFL should pay attention to the changes in Quebec City, which currently sits at just under 800,000 residents, and London and Kitchener, which are just under ½ million. The league must also pay close attention to Halifax, where there have been years of talk about building a new stadium and getting a CFL team.
It should be remembered that Regina’s small population has not been a deterrent from operating a team successfully (though the team gets support from the whole province of Saskatchewan). In addition, all the current franchises have successfully fielded teams when their populations were much smaller.
So expanding to a Quebec City, Kitchener, or London, ranked seventh, tenth, and eleventh in the nation in population, might be feasible in the near future.
Population growth is not the only factor that will determine the development of the CFL, but it is a significant factor. The results of next year’s Canadian census will be important for long-term CFL growth.
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