The Toronto Argonauts will be calling another city home as they navigate the challenges from the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Argonauts have a plan to use the University of Guelph as their home base to begin the 2026 CFL season, with BMO Field not available because of the tournament.
Argos general manager Michael “Pinball” Clemons confirmed the news on Friday, during the CFL's winter meetings in Calgary outling that the team has been working on the logistics.
“We don’t know exactly what that’s going to look like, but it seems as if they’re going to do their best to give us the things that we need in order to get ourselves ready for each week,” Clemons said on a virtual call with reporters. “We have a wonderful director of football operations, Melissa Frith, who’s working tirelessly, and she does a tremendous job. We don’t have any doubt that she’ll do the best that can be done.”
The team has a long-standing relationship with the University of Guelph, which has hosted Argos training camps, and the team likes the facilities offered on campus.
During the regular season, the Argos have used the locker room at BMO Field and transport players to nearby Lamport Stadium for practice.
One part of that still needs to be addressed is how the team will deal with housing players and families in Guelph.
“There are options there for them potentially to be in Guelph or potentially in their own places,” Clemons said. “There are different things that they’re putting together, but it is not done at this point. So anything we respond with right now would be premature.”
New head coach Mike Miller is familiar with the facilities at Guelph, as he's been a part of the coaching staff since 2022, and likes what the athletic facilities offer.
“I don’t really see a problem once we get settled in the beginning of May,” Miller said. “If we’re there in those months of June and July, I don’t foresee any real problems.
“They’ve got an excellent facility. The field is nice. The weight room facility is really good. The training facilities that we have for our trainers — it’s really good,” he said. “So we’re excited.”
The Argos will play home games away from their respective venues during FIFA's World Cup, which is being held from June 11 to July 19.
Toronto will will play home games at Hamilton Stadium, Mosaic Stadium in Regina and Winnipeg's Princess Auto Stadium against the host teams during the World Cup.
Following the World Cup, BMO Field will require time to be retrofitted back to CFL standards. Their first game back in Toronto will be played on Aug. 6 against the Calgary Stampeders in Week 10.
