Quebec City in the CFL: the pieces are falling into place

Hello to every Canadian football fan across the country and the world.

I am pleased to join the fabulous team of  3DownNation from the most beautiful city in the country, Quebec City, and write about football.

Ah, la ville de Québec, yes it’s beautiful but no CFL football.

Hold on, folks!

What came out in the media these past weeks, can be confirmed, according to many credible sources.

The idea of having a professional football team in Quebec City is nothing new.  At the turn of the 21st century, former Quebec Justine minister, lawyer Marc Bellemare, tested the waters but bowed out of the project.  However, since then, the idea has germed into the head of a local businessman, to the point, that a conditional franchise was given.

That man, even though nothing came out publicly, is William Trudel of the Groupe Trudel.

Groupe Trudel is real estate business and they have contacted the league about their interest in expanding to Quebec City.

This past September, the commissioner of the CFL, Stewart Johnston met with the nine team owners, and they have conditionally accepted a franchise for Quebec City.  A fee of 25 million dollars is also standing by if the city gets an expansion franchise.

Sources have confirmed a new CFL team in Quebec has ruled out playing at Stade Telus, which is located on the campus of the Université Laval.  The franchise would start when a new football stadium construction in the city would be finished.   The year 2030 is the target for the arrival of a new team.

Soon after Sylvain Bouchard, of FM93, who came out with the scoop in early September, the mayor of the city, Bruno Marchand, said he would welcome the arrival of a CFL franchise in his city.   On his part, the new Premier of Quebec, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, who played football in his younger years, declared during the last election campaign, that his party would welcome helping out with financing the construction of a new stadium.  Especially with no elected members of the Parti Québécois in the city,. Plamondon will be hard pressed to invest in a new sporting facility.  On the federal scene, the politicians are not too incline to invest in such a project but the Groupe Trudel could look into different departments, to get some sort of financial aid from Ottawa.

What has fueled up an upcoming construction of a new football stadium is the fact that the city has open tenders for the deconstruction of Le Colisée in 2027.

With no hockey in the arena since 2o15, the “House that Jean Béliveau Built” is currently the home of the different sports equipments for the upcoming 2027 Canada Winter Games in the city.

Once the demolition of the Colisée complete,  the site will be available to build a new sports facility.   A future sports stadium would be used year round and used mainly by the community, like the Stade Canac, home of the Québec Capitales baseball team of the National Association of Professional Baseball.

The Capitales use Stade Canac just over 12% of the time.  The rest is used for minor and junior baseball, and in the winter, a dome covers the field, and rent the hours for baseball, softball, soccer, and flag football.

A new football stadium would be also available for a possible soccer team in the Canadian Premier League (CPL), rugby games, and flag football.  A dome would also be installed on the premises of the future stadium.

What could also be in Quebec City’s favor is the fact that close to a billion dollars is being invested in renovating Olympic Stadium in Montreal.  The fact that a large sum of money is invested in Montreal and nothing possibly for Quebec City is a fact that no provincial government is ready to accept.

Back to football.  Getting a new team in Quebec for the Groupe Trudel would come with hosting the Grey Cup twice in the first 10 years of the franchise.

A tenth CFL team, especially in a francophone city would be something that would interest more players who play in the RSEQ conference.

Notably for the Laval Rouge et Or, the Montréal Carabins, and the Sherbrooke Vert et Or university players who have mostly French speaking student-athletes.  Don’t count out those of McGill, Concordia, or Bishop’s universitkies, as well as those from the Ottawa Gee Gees who also has some francophone players.

One of the architects of the success of football at Laval, local businessman Jacques Tanguay, who didn’t want the CFL in Quebec City at first, is now seeing the positive effect of a professional team in the provincial capital of Quebec .  Invited to Quebec’s Radio-Canada morning show, Tanguay said that a CFL team wouldn’t impact negatively on the Rouge et Or acxtivities.  “It’s two different products,” Tanguay said. “A tenth team would present more opportunities, especially in a French city like Quebec for the players of the Rouge et Or, it would be fantastic.”

Meanwhile, the city is getting ready to host the RSEQ championship between the Carabins from the Université de Montréal and the Rouge et Or.  It will be the 13th straight year that both teams make it to the conference final, with each school winning six times.  Then, on Nov. 28, Stade Telus will be the site of the 61st Vanier Cup.

A lot of positive football news for the city’s  fans.