Football Canada has welcomed the Canadian Junior Football League as an associate member.
The approval of the CJFL marks the fourth associate member to join Football Canada in the last year, joining the Canadian Football League, U Sports and the Canadian Football Officials Association.
“Football Canada is now the hub of communications for our national contact football organizations to connect, collaborate and partner with grassroots football across the country,” Football Canada president Jim Mullin said in a statement.
The alliance creates pathways for expanded work on CJFL teams to participate in developing the game at the community level with Football Canada programming like First Down and CFL Futures focused on participation for youth under 12. It is also a catalyst for discussion with the CFL and U Sports to align areas of operations and events.
“We have already started a dialogue between the partners about how we can work together as a football community to maximize our high-performance events and contribute to minor football, and the CJFL is at the centre of that discussion,” Mullin said.
The CJFL’s membership in Football Canada was facilitated by the recent ratification of Ontario Football Conference Juniors return to the Ontario Football Alliance, the responsible body for football’s governance in Ontario.
The OFC is set to host the CJFL championship Canadian Bowl this November, showcasing the talent and level of enthusiasm for junior football in the province and across the country.
