2023 CFL draft

The 2023 CFL national draft was a selection of national players by Canadian Football League teams that took place on May 2, 2023, at 8:00 pm ET. 72 players were chosen from among eligible players from Canadian Universities across the country, as well as Canadian players playing in the NCAA and NAIA.
The draft was broadcast live on TSN for the first two rounds with subsequent rounds being streamed online. The TSN production was hosted by Farhan Lalji and featured the CFL on TSN panel, including Duane Forde, Marshall Ferguson, Jim Barker, and Dave Naylor.

Combines

For the first time the CFL held an invitational players combine at the University of Waterloo's Feridun Hamdullahpur Field House on March 3, 2023. The main combine took place March 22-26, 2023, at the Commonwealth Stadium Field House in Edmonton, AB.

Top prospects

Final ranking	January ranking	September ranking	Player	Position	University	Hometown
1	5	–	Matthew Bergeron	Offensive Lineman	Syracuse	Victoriaville, QC
2	1	1	Chase Brown	Running back	Illinois [Fighting Illini football\|Illinois]	London, ON
3	2	3	Sydney Brown	Defensive back	Illinois	London, ON
4	3	9	Tavius Robinson	Defensive lineman	Mississippi	Guelph, ON
5	4	7	Sidy Sow	Offensive lineman	Eastern Michigan	Bromont, QC
6	6	4	Jared Wayne	Wide receiver	Pittsburgh	Peterborough, ON
7	7	2	Dontae Bull	Offensive lineman	Fresno State	Victoria, BC
8	9	10	Jonathan Sutherland	Linebacker	Penn State	Ottawa, ON
9	8	6	Lwal Uguak	Defensive lineman	Texas Christian	Edmonton, AB
10	12	11	Francis Bemiy	Defensive lineman	Southern Utah	Montreal, QC
11	15	–	Micheal Brodrique	Linebacker	Montreal	Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac, QC
12	–	–	Cole Tucker	Wide receiver	Northern Illinois	DeKalb, IL
13	10	20	Lake Korte-Moore	Defensive lineman	British Columbia	Ottawa, ON
14	14	13	Clark Barnes	Wide receiver	Guelph	Brampton, ON
15	11	16	Siriman Bagayogo	Defensive back	Guelph	Bois-des-Filion, QC
16	13	–	Anthony Bennett	Defensive lineman	Regina	Weston, FL
17	20	–	Phillip Grohovac	Offensive lineman	Western	Victoria, BC
18	18	18	Jacob Taylor	Linebacker	Alberta [Golden Bears football\|Alberta]	Beaumont, AB
19	16	–	James Peter	Linebacker	Ottawa	Ottawa, ON
20	–	–	Dayton Black	Offensive lineman	Saskatchewan	Brandon, MB
–	17	19	Reece Martin	Defensive lineman	Mount Allison	Moncton, NB
–	19	–	Quintin Seguin	Defensive lineman	Charleston Southern	Windsor, ON
–	–	5	Nick Mardner	Wide receiver	Cincinnati	Mississauga, ON
–	–	8	Theo Benedet	Offensive lineman	British Columbia	North Vancouver, BC
–	–	12	Gabe Wallace	Offensive lineman	Buffalo	Salmon Arm, BC
–	–	14	Daniel Johnson	Offensive lineman	Purdue	London, ON
–	–	15	Giovanni Manu	Offensive lineman	British Columbia	Pitt Meadows, BC
–	–	17	Justin Sambu	Defensive lineman	Maine	Calgary, AB

Trades

In the explanations below, ' denotes trades that took place during the draft, while ' indicates trades completed pre-draft.

Round one

Hamilton ←→ Calgary. Hamilton traded this selection, a third-round pick in this draft, a sixth-round pick in this draft, and a second-round pick in the 2024 CFL draft to Calgary in exchange for Bo Levi Mitchell, a first-round pick in this draft, and a third-round pick in the 2024 CFL draft.BC → Montreal. BC traded this selection to Montreal in exchange for Vernon Adams.Toronto → BC. Toronto traded this selection to BC in exchange for Jordan Williams.

Round two

Hamilton → Edmonton. Hamilton traded this selection and Jesse Gibbon to Edmonton in exchange for David Beard and a conditional fourth-round pick in this year's draft.Edmonton → Ottawa. Edmonton traded the 12th overall selection to Ottawa in exchange for the rights to Woodly Appolon.

Round three

Montreal → Edmonton. Montreal traded this selection and Avery Ellis to Edmonton in exchange for Nafees Lyon and Thomas Costigan.BC → Ottawa. BC traded this selection and a conditional fourth-round selection in the 2024 CFL draft to Ottawa in exchange for Terry Williams.Hamilton → Calgary. Hamilton traded this selection, a first-round pick in this draft, a sixth-round pick in this draft, and a second-round pick in the 2024 CFL draft to Calgary in exchange for Bo Levi Mitchell, a first-round pick in this draft, and a third-round pick in the 2024 CFL draft.

Round four

Ottawa → Edmonton. Ottawa traded this selection to Edmonton in exchange for Nick Arbuckle.Edmonton → Hamilton. Edmonton traded a conditional fourth-round selection and David Beard to Hamilton in exchange for Jesse Gibbon and a second-round pick in this year's draft. The condition was confirmed to be fulfilled upon the release of the draft order by the league.

Round five

Saskatchewan → Montreal. Saskatchewan traded this selection to Montreal in exchange for Mario Alford. This selection was originally a sixth-round pick, but was upgraded after Alford played in at least nine games for the Roughriders.

Round six

Edmonton → Toronto. Edmonton traded this selection to Toronto in exchange for Jalen Collins and Martez Ivey.Montreal → Edmonton. Montreal traded this selection to Edmonton in exchange for Walter Fletcher.Hamilton → Calgary. Hamilton traded this selection, a first-round pick in this draft, a third-round pick in this draft, and a second-round pick in the 2024 CFL draft to Calgary in exchange for Bo Levi Mitchell, a first-round pick in this draft, and a third-round pick in the 2024 CFL draft.

Round seven

Calgary → Saskatchewan. Calgary traded this selection and a third-round selection in the 2023 CFL global draft to Saskatchewan in exchange for James Smith. This selection can be upgraded to a fifth-round selection depending on the number of games played by Smith for the Stampeders.Hamilton → Edmonton. Hamilton traded this selection to Edmonton in exchange for Colin Kelly.Edmonton → Ottawa. Edmonton traded this selection to Ottawa in exchange for Llevi Noel and an eighth-round pick in this year's draft.

Round eight

Ottawa → Edmonton. Ottawa traded this selection and Llevi Noel to Edmonton in exchange for a seventh-round pick in this year's draft.Edmonton → Hamilton. Edmonton traded this selection to Hamilton in exchange for Jon Ryan.

Conditional trades

Montreal → Calgary. Montreal traded a conditional second-round selection to Calgary in exchange for the playing rights to Laurent Duvernay-Tardif. The condition would've been fulfilled if Duvernay-Tardif signed with the Alouettes before the draft, but he did not.

Forfeitures

Edmonton forfeited their second round pick after selecting J-Min Pelley in the 2022 Supplemental Draft.Calgary forfeited their second round pick after selecting T. J. Rayam in the 2022 Supplemental Draft.