Rules

Rule Changes

Rule changes are issued every year by Football Canada. The Canadian Football Officials Association also develops presentations on how these rules will be applied. Details can be found at:

Football Canada: https://footballcanada.com/officiate/rulebooks-rule-changes/

Canadian FOA: https://cfoaref.com/rules/

Rule Presentations

The Canadian Football Officials Association has created presentations focusing on different portions of the rule book. New presentations will be added as they become available.

  1. Wedge Block (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  2. Blocking Below the Waist (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  3. Delayed Knee Block (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  4. Holding (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  5. Horse Collar Tackle (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  6. Blind Side Block (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  7. Roughing the Passer (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  8. Inadvertent Whistle (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  9. Rough Play – Targeting (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  10. Loose Ball Interference (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  11. Hands to the Face (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  12. Crack Back Block (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  13. Catch or No Catch (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  14. Pass Interference (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  15. Tourist Hits (CFOA presentation with commentary)
  16. Protection of Kicker (Note: portions of this commentary are now outdated with respect to touching the ball and subsequent roughing the kicker. Per rule 7-3-3: “Unnecessary roughness against a punter, or field goal kicker is illegal. Any excessively rough contact on the Kicker or Punter shall be ruled as Unnecessary Roughness regardless of where the contact is. If a player touches the ball prior to contacting the kicker’s plant leg they can still be called for Roughing the Kicker.”)
  17. Player in a Defenseless Position (CFOA presentation with commentary)

The CFOA website also has a video library that shows examples of some of the different rules: CLICK HERE

Various helpful videos are also available on YouTube through the Canadian Football Officials Association:
https://www.youtube.com/@canadianfootballofficialsa3697/videos

Included in these videos is a virtual Level 1 clinic. There are four videos that help prepare someone to become an official and take the field for the first time (each are about an hour long). In Calgary, we want all new officials to complete an in-person Level 1 clinic before we assign them to games.