The 2012 Canadian Football League Expansion Draft was a proposed three-round CFL draft scheduled for Thursday, December 13, 2012 which is designed to assign players from existing CFL teams to the expansion

Expansion team

An expansion team is a brand new team in a sports league. The term is most commonly used in reference to the North American major professional sports leagues, but is applied to sports leagues worldwide that use a closed franchise system of league membership. The term comes from the expansion of the...

 franchise in Ottawa, Ontario. The structure of the draft was announced on January 19, 2011, which described one round for selecting import players and two rounds for selecting non-import players. Ottawa was to be given the last pick in each of the first four rounds of the 2012 CFL Draft and the first pick in every round of the 2013 CFL Draft. The draft is tentatively scheduled because Ottawa's status as a franchise is still conditional upon the completion of Frank Clair Stadium

Frank Clair Stadium

Frank Clair Stadium is a Canadian football stadium in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located in Lansdowne Park, on the southern edge of The Glebe neighbourhood, where Bank Street crosses the Rideau Canal.-Tenants:...

.

With lawsuits and delays pushing the opening day of the remodeled Frank Clair Stadium back to at least 2014, the draft is presumed to be postponed.

Rules of the Draft

Ottawa will select three players from each of the eight existing teams for a total of 24 players. Ottawa will select eight import players and 16 non-import players with quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

s, kickers

Placekicker

Placekicker, or simply kicker , is the title of the player in American and Canadian football who is responsible for the kicking duties of field goals, extra points...

 and punters eligible within their respective import/non-import categories. Ottawa will be able to select a maximum of two quarterbacks and one kicker/punter, but they may not select any of these three players from the same team. The CFL Commissioner will resolve any dispute related to player eligibility for the Expansion Draft process.

Round one: Import Draft

Existing teams may protect one quarterback and ten additional import players, while only being able to select, at maximum, two quarterbacks in the draft. If a quarterback is selected from a team, that team may protect an additional two non-import players in the first round of the Non-Import Draft. If a kicker or punter is selected from a team, that team may protect one additional non-import player in the first round of the Non-Import Draft. Ottawa will select one import player from each existing team in this round.

Pick #	Player	Position	Original CFL Team
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8

Round two: Non-Import Draft

Existing teams may protect six total non-import players, including the team's one protected quarterback and one protected kicker/punter. If a quarterback was selected in the Import Draft, eight total non-import players may be protected. If a kicker or punter was selected in the Import Draft, seven total non-import players may be protected. If a non-import kicker or punter is to be selected, it must be done in this round and, if so, that team will be able to protect an additional two non-import players in the second round of the Non-Import Draft. Ottawa will select one non-import player from each existing team in this round.

Pick #	Player	Position	Original CFL Team
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16

Round three: Non-Import Draft

Existing teams may protect six more non-import players in addition to those that were protected in the second round. If a kicker or punter was selected in the Non-Import Draft, eight more non-import players may be protected. Ottawa will select one non-import player from each existing team in this round.

Pick #	Player	Position	Original CFL Team
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24