The Labour Day Classic (, branded as OK Tire Labour Day Weekend for sponsorship reasons) is a week of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL) schedule played over the

Labour Day Labour Day is an annual day of celebration of the labour movement and its labor rights, achievements. It has its origins in the trade union, labour union movement, specifically the Eight-hour day movement, eight-hour day movement, which advoca ...

weekend (which includes the first Monday in September). Labour Day weekend, roughly 12 or 13 weeks into the CFL season, is known for its matchups that do not change from year to year, unlike other "rivalry" weeks of the CFL schedule. Labour Day weekend is also one of typically two weeks (the Thanksgiving Day Classic being the other) in the CFL schedule that the league plays on a Monday. Multinational Balkrishna Industries' OK Tire brand is the presenting sponsor of the event as of 2022. The usual weekend matchups involves the

Montreal Alouettes The Montreal Alouettes (Canadian French, French: ''Les Alouettes de Montréal'') are a professional Canadian football team based in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1946, the team has disbanded twice and been re-established thrice. The Alouettes compe ...

playing against the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

on the Friday before Labour Day, with host duties alternating between the two teams. The

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

then visit the Saskatchewan Roughriders on Sunday and on Labour Day itself, the

Hamilton Tiger-Cats The Hamilton Tiger-Cats are a professional Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. They are currently members of the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The Tiger-Cats play their home game ...

play at home against the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

, while the

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division (CFL), West Division and plays their home games at Commonw ...

visit the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

. The

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

have no geographic rival and typically have a bye, having played just three times on Labour Day Weekend (2015, 2023 and 2024) since the return to nine teams in

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

. The Lions most recently played in

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

against the Redblacks, in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific Ocean, Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Gre ...

, which was the first Labour Day matchup between the Lions and an Ottawa team since

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

and the first neutral site Labour Day Weekend game to be played.

History

The Labour Day Classic began in 1949 and pre-dates the founding of the CFL by nine years. The matchups have remained mostly the same throughout history, except during Montreal and Ottawa's periods of hiatus or due to scheduling conflicts. During the early 1980s, the Montreal Concordes played the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and the remaining three teams (Toronto, Ottawa and BC) rotated each year. Ottawa and BC faced each other during the late 1980s and early 1990s while the league had no team in Montreal. Because Ottawa had no active team from 1997 to 2001 and 2006–2013, the Alouettes usually played the Lions during those seasons, creating a "coast-to-coast" rivalry. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by SARS-CoV-2, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Most cases over the course o ...

, the entire 2020 CFL season was cancelled and therefore no Labour Day weekend games were played for the first time in CFL history.

Hamilton

Due to scheduling conflicts, the Tiger-Cats temporarily revived its rivalry with the current incarnation of the Alouettes in the Labour Day game for the 2011 season; the change in opponents led Hamilton to dub the game the ''Labour Day Classique'' in reference to Montreal's francophone community. Therefore, in 2011, this automatically resulted in Toronto and BC facing each other. In 2013, the Tiger-Cats' did not host a game on Labour Day for only the second time in franchise history (the first being

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

). It was also the first time that they did not host a game on that weekend. Because

Ivor Wynne Stadium Ivor Wynne Stadium (formerly Civic Stadium) was a Canadian football stadium located at the corner of Balsam and Beechwood avenues, two blocks west of Gage Avenue North in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The stadium was the home of the Hamilton Tiger ...

was demolished to make way for the new

Tim Hortons Field Hamilton Stadium (originally Tim Hortons Field) is a multi-purpose stadium in Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. Completed in 2014 with a capacity of 22,500, it was built as a replacement on the same site as the previous stadium, name ...

, the team played out of

Alumni Stadium Alumni Stadium is a college football stadium on the lower campus of Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. It is about west of downtown Boston, just inside the Boston city limits near the border with Newton, Massachusetts, Newton. It i ...

Guelph Guelph ( ; 2021 Canadian Census population 143,740) is a city in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. Known as The Royal City, it is roughly east of Kitchener, Ontario, Kitchener and west of Downtown Toronto, at the intersection of Ontario Highway 6, ...

. The University of Guelph Gryphons (along with most Ontario University Athletics teams) were playing that same day, so the Tiger-Cats could not host the game. To make up for it, the Toronto at Hamilton matchup was played in the Thanksgiving Day Classic. For the 2016 contest, to avoid any further conflicts with OUA games, the CFL moved the Toronto/Hamilton matchup to

prime time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

Labour Day evening. That year, the OUA's McMaster Marauders football team moved its Labour Day matchup with the Toronto Varsity Blues football squad to Tim Hortons Field, creating a doubleheader with a series of concerts in-between games. This was moved back to a 1:00 pm Eastern start in 2019.

Related events

Although not directly associated with the Labour Day Classic, the week after Labour Day often has a repeat match-up of the Bombers vs Roughriders (see Banjo Bowl), Stampeders vs Elks (see

Battle of Alberta The Battle of Alberta is a term applied to the intense rivalry between the Canada, Canadian cities of Calgary, the province's most populous city (since 1976), and Edmonton, the capital of the province of Alberta (since 1905). Most often it is us ...

), and Tiger-Cats vs Argonauts (a rivalry which began in 1873), with home field advantage now to the team that did not have it during the Labour Day weekend. As the league has been increasing in popularity in recent years, print ads for the Labour Day Classic try to evoke the tradition of watching Canadian football on the last weekend of summer. Slogans include "Long Live the Rivalries" and "Watch the Team You Love Play the Team You Love to Hate". Some of the teams wear special third jerseys or throwback uniforms if they play at home.

Current matchups

Edmonton Eskimos/Elks vs Calgary Stampeders

Longest Winning Streak (Edmonton): 7 (1950–1961)
Longest Winning Streak (Calgary): 8 (2012–2019) Did not play in the following years: 1954–1958, 1964–1968, 1973, 1981, 2020 Television (since 1985): CTV (1985–1986); CFN (1987, 1990);

CBC CBC may refer to: Media * Cadena Baja California or Grupo Cadena, a radio and television broadcaster in Mexico * Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Canada's radio and television public broadcaster ** CBC Television ** CBC Radio One ** CBC Music ** ...

(1988, 1991–2007); TSN (1989, 2008–2019, 2021–2024)

Labour Day Rematch

Starting in 1989, Calgary and Edmonton have played a Labour Day home-and-home series. The Labour Day Classic game has been held in Calgary on Labour Day Monday, and the Rematch has been held in Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium the following Friday or Saturday. In 1992, the game in Edmonton was held the week before the Labour Day Classic instead of the week after. *Game held the week before the Labour Day Classic **CFL's Top Regular Season Attendance

Winnipeg Blue Bombers vs Saskatchewan Roughriders

In the week following the Winnipeg vs Saskatchewan Labour Day Classic matchup, the two teams rematch annually in the Banjo Bowl. Longest winning streak (Saskatchewan): 11 (2005–2015)
Longest winning streak (Winnipeg): 4 (1978–1982) Did not play the following years: 1955–1960, 1964–1969, 1971, 1973, 1976, 1981, 2020 Television (since 1982): CTV (1983–1985);

(1982, 1986, 1989, 1993); CFN (1987–1988); TSN (1990–1991, 1994, 1997–2000, 2002–2019, 2021–2024); No TV (1992, 1995–1996, 2001)

Toronto Argonauts vs Hamilton Tiger-Cats

The Toronto—Hamilton Classic is one of the components of the Harold Ballard Trophy, an award given to the winner of the season series between the Tiger-Cats and Argonauts. The trophy is named after

Harold Ballard Harold Edwin Ballard (born Edwin Harold Ballard, July 30, 1903 – April 11, 1990) was a Canadian businessman and sportsman. Ballard was an owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL) as well as their home arena, Maple ...

, who owned the Tiger-Cats for much of the 1980s and owned

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in four of the six major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

for most of that time. A trophy has been awarded to the winner of the series since 1979. The Toronto—Hamilton contest is officially known as ''Football Day in Hamilton'' and has its own presenting sponsor, WeatherTech Canada. For the first several years after

opened, ''Football Day in Hamilton'' consisted of a Tiger-Cats game as well as a concert and either a McMaster Marauders football or a Hamilton Hurricanes ( CJFL) matinée (this tradition has since been abandoned as of the 2020s). Longest Winning Streak (Hamilton): 7 (2014–2021)
Longest Winning Streak (Toronto): 3 (1994–1997, 2006–2008) Did not play the following years: 1962, 1965–1966, 1969–1970, 1972–1974, 1976–1977, 1979, 1981–1986, 1990, 1995, 2011, 2013, 2020

Ottawa Rough Riders/Renegades/Redblacks vs Montreal Alouettes

Longest Winning Streak (Ottawa): 7 (1961–2003)
Longest Winning Streak (Montreal): 6 (1954–1959) Did not play in following years: 1950–1952, 1962, 1964–1966, 1968–1970, 1972–1977, 1979–1986, 2002, 2015, 2019–2020, 2023–2025 ;Notes :No Montreal team 1987–1995 :No Ottawa team 1997–2001, 2006–2013

Other matchups

BC Lions vs Montreal Alouettes

BC Lions vs Ottawa Rough Riders/Renegades/Redblacks

Montreal Alouettes vs Hamilton Tiger-Cats

Hamilton has played and hosted the Labour Day Classic against Montreal (aka Labour Day Classique) nine times in CFL history, including all four years in which the team was known as the Concordes. According to a ''Hamilton Spectator'' article, 2011 marked 25 years since Montreal had battled Hamilton in this Classic at home. In previous years, Montreal has played as either the Alouettes or Concordes. The Classique has been a notoriously one-sided rivalry; Hamilton is undefeated in the Labour Day series, and Montreal is winless, with their best result being a tie in the first Classique in 1962.

References

{{Navboxes , titlestyle = background:#E5E5E5; color:black; , list1 = {{BC Lions {{Calgary Stampeders {{Edmonton Eskimos {{Hamilton Tiger-Cats {{Montreal Alouettes {{Ottawa RedBlacks {{Saskatchewan Roughriders {{Toronto Argonauts {{Winnipeg Blue Bombers {{CFL on CBC {{CFL on TSN Canadian Football League Canadian Football League rivalries Canadian football in Alberta Canadian football in Ontario Canadian football in Saskatchewan Recurring sporting events established in 1949 September in sports Sport in Calgary Canadian football in Hamilton, Ontario Sport in Regina, Saskatchewan 1949 establishments in Canada