Canadian Football League free agency began on Tuesday. Over the first 48 hours of free agency, here are seven Canadians who have switched teams.
Philip Blake–Saskatchewan Roughriders
Blake, a native of Toronto, Ontario, is returning to the Roughriders after playing there in 2018 and 2019. The offensive lineman also was with the Montreal Alouettes from 2015 to 2018, and the Toronto Argonauts in 2021 and 2022, winning a Grey Cup last season.
Darius Ciraco–Toronto Argonauts
Ciraco, a native of Burlington, Ontario, was the Hamilton Tiger Cats’s first pick, sixth overall, out of the University of Calgary in 2018. The offensive lineman played with Hamilton from 2018 to 2021 and the Ottawa Red Blacks in 2022. Ciraco remains in the East with Toronto.
Michael Couture–British Columbia Lions
Couture, a native of Burnaby, British Columbia, played with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers from 2016 to 2022. He was part of the Blue Bombers franchises that won the Grey Cups in 2019 and 2021. Couture is an offensive lineman, who has seen regular time at centre for Winnipeg, now returns home to B.C.
Jesse Gibbon–Montreal Alouettes
Gibbon, a native of Hamilton, Ontario was traded from the Edmonton Elks to the Montreal Alouettes on Wednesday for a second round pick in the 2024 CFL Draft. The offensive lineman was with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for four years from 2019 to 2022 before being traded to the Elks for offensive lineman David Beard of Sherwood Park, Alberta on September 2.
Justin McInnis–British Columbia Lions
McInnis, a native of Pierrefonds, Quebec, was the Saskatchewan Roughriders’s first round pick, sixth overall, in the 2019 CFL Draft. A wide receiver, he has played his first four seasons with Saskatchewan. In 33 games, he has 48 catches for 596 yards and two touchdowns, before joining the Lions.
Llevi Noel–Hamilton Tiger-Cats
Noel, a native of Toronto, was with the Toronto Argonauts from 2016 to 2021, before sharing the 2022 season with the Ottawa Redblacks and Edmonton Elks. A Grey Cup champion with Toronto in 2017, Llevi has 83 catches for 878 yards and four touchdowns in 91 games. Noel returns to his province of Ontario.
Mario Villamizar–Toronto Argonauts
Like Noel, Villamizar is returning to his home province of Ontario. A fullback, Villamizar spent four seasons with the Lions as a fullback from 2019 to 2022. In 40 CFL games, the St. Cartharines, Ontario native has two catches for 13 yards.
