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Though he denied the CFL has a particular timeline set for expansion, league commissioner Stewart Johnston seems optimistic about reaching an even ten teams by 2030.

“I would love to see a tenth team join us by 2030. I think that’s a great date to focus on,” he told the media from the league’s offseason winter meetings on Wednesday. “I think most who’ve been following the league have known that we would love to get to a tenth team. I’m no different.”

The CFL has been stuck at nine teams since the Ottawa Redblacks hit the field in 2014. There was apparent momentum towards expanding to the Maritimes a few years later, though that momentum ceased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Randy Ambrosie, Johnston’s predecessor, spoke bullishly at times regarding CFL expansion. In 2023, he claimed there was “very strong interest” from a potential owner in Halifax and there had “probably never been a better chance” for the league to expand out east.

As we now know, the league’s efforts to expand into the Maritimes have yet to bear fruit.

Halifax is currently in the process of finalizing plans to build a permanent stadium at the Wanderers Grounds, a sporting complex that houses the city’s popular Canadian Premier League team. The footprint is too small for a CFL stadium, however, which has led to pushback from city councillor Trish Purdy.

“The seating count, the length and size of the field, it ought to be accessible for CFL if we’re going to do a stadium,” she told Saltwire in August. “If we do a stadium and CFL is not even an option, then to me that’s just wrong.”

Quebec City is commonly viewed as a site for possible CFL expansion, though Jacques Tanguay, the deep-pocketed president of the U Sports powerhouse Laval Rouge et Or, doesn’t think that’s feasible with the school’s existing infrastructure. He told the Journal de Montréal in 2023 that having a CFL team in Quebec City would be unthinkable without new infrastructure and considerable investment from public coffers.

The seating at Stade Telus is mostly benches, at least half of which are made of wood. The surface under the seating is crushed rock, not concrete. The venue has lots of positives but would need significant upgrades to house a CFL team.

Johnston clearly recognizes the challenges surrounding infrastructure.

“Stadium issues continue to be the number one problem to solve,” said Johnston. “I think there are a couple of areas across the country where there’s some opportunity. We certainly continue to receive a significant amount of inbound interest from individuals who are interested in being a part of our league. We’ll continue to have those conversations, and I’ll certainly update you as soon as I can.”

The CFL has certainly fallen short of its goal of expansion in the past. If this effort ends up being any different, only time will tell — four years, to be exact.