Off the top of my head I am not sure if this can be done somehow under each province's human rights codes but I remain convinced that the CFL had a great rule on import Americans back in the 1960s. See below for details. In a nutshell if a US player came here and acquired Canadian citizenship after 5 years, he could be reclassified as a Canadian a la Ronny Lancaster, QB and some other CFL greats. I am sure it could be done if it was based on place of football training and becoming a Canadian citizen.
This would encourage teams to form long term relationships with its players and encourage some who want to stay here to become citizens. Heck, we should maybe allow them to be NI if they stay 5 consecutive years with the league. There are lots of reasons not to do this I suppose but we sure got some good ones before and don't forget that those were the glory years of the CFL with larger crowds in some cities than now.
One of the reasons for fans not showing interest is the issue of player identification - not enough get to know the players with so much movement.
History of Collective Bargaining in the CFL
http://www.cflpa.com/CFLPA/history_1990s.html- Roster Size
The characteristic general restriction on employment in the C.F.L. has been the quota for American or "import" players. In 1936, there was a limit of five imports. The quota was gradually increased to twelve during the 1950's. In 1961, it was determined that an import could be reclassified as a local if he acquired Canadian citizenship after five years of residence. Until 1965, the import regulations referred to the number of "Americans", but this terminology was amended in 1965 when the view that the roster limits were in breach of the Ontario Human Rights Code. The criteria then referred to the place of early football training (with the result that the famous American sprinter, John Carlos, played for the Montreal Alouettes in 1971 as a "non-import"). In 1968, the "designated import" rule provided that when a 14th import entered the game, another import could no longer be used; this was amended in 1970 to allow free substitution of imports at the quarterback position.
The player quota re-emerged as a point of contention after 1993 because the American teams were not required to employ "non-import" or Canadian players. Many teams favoured eliminating or severely reducing the ratio to obtain cheap talent by tapping the massive supply of American players. The C.F.L.P.A., however, resolved to protect all positions on the total roster of 37 players. In 1996, however, when the League was re-established as an exclusively Canadian franchises, the C.F.L.P.A. bargained to maintain 17 Canadian positions on the new active roster of 36.
In the current collective agreement, the minimum roster size is 39 players and the maximum is 40. Not more than 18 can be imports, which includes two designed imports, but not quarterbacks.
Buck Pierce #16 has a great future in the