The City of Regina confirmed Mosaic Stadium’s new turf will follow the Canadian Football League’s (CFL) rule changes and be permanently stitched for those dimensions. “The current turf at Mosaic Stadium is stitched and the new turf will be stitched as well,” Melissa Coderre, city manager of sport facilities and special events told CTV News Friday. “The difference will be it will have the new CFL standard football regulations stitched in. It will be a 100-yard field with 15-yard end zones and a goal post towards the back instead of the front of the end zone.” This comes after work began earlier this week ahead of the turf’s replacement. On Sept. 22, 2025, the CFL announced sweeping rule changes; such as a shortened play clock and altering of the single point ‘rouge,’ which were implemented at the beginning of the 2026 season. Other changes, like the field being shortened from 110 yards to 100 yards, end zones shortened from 20 yards to 15 yards and goalposts moved from the goal line to the back of the end zones, go into effect beginning in 2027. While the replacement of Mosaic Stadium’s turf coincides with the rule changes, the city says it was at the end of its life and planned to change it regardless. Mayor Chad Bachynski said earlier this week he did not know the field choice the city made and whether or not it would be able to accommodate football leagues which will not be adopting the CFL’s new field dimensions. “I don’t have the details on the painting and stitching part,” he told reporters Wednesday. “I know [this] was the capital plan for turf replacement. It’s been on the books for a number of years. This was the year, regardless of any CFL rule changes that have come up.” Work ahead of the old turf’s removal forced Regina High School Athletic Association 6A football city final from the stadium and to Leibel Field. Although the city says the work done this week is only preliminary. “The rubber infill of the Mosaic Stadium turf is being removed starting November 4 as this work needs to be done before temperatures dip too low. The turf replacement will happen in Spring 2027,” the city explained. What becomes unknown is the future of amateur football’s use of the city-owned space. Football Canada said following the CFL’s announcement, it would not be adopting the new professional dimensions. Meaning leagues like USports, Canadian Junior Football League, high school and minor football programs will continue to play on 110-yard-long fields with uprights at the front of the end zone. Without a guaranteed schedule, the Rams, Thunder and every high school in Regina may have to pivot to an entire season played at Leibel Field. City officials are confident it still can. Although the field will be 100 yards long, the endzones will be able to extend to 20 yards and the uprights moved to the front when necessary. “Mosaic Stadium is really special place,” said Coderre. “We are unique in Canada in that our CFL stadium is available to the public, so we’re also making sure that that end zone has a second field goal post location at the front and a longer end zone at the back to allow us to keep accommodating minor football.” Coderre added the city explored all available options before ultimately selecting stitched lines, including repainting lines ahead of each game for whichever sport was using the space. CFL venues like Princess Auto Stadium in Winnipeg, BMO Field in Toronto or McMahon Stadium in Calgary host multiple sports and follow this process. Coderre says the costs of equipment would add an additional $200,000 to the already $1.6 million project. The city also projected an extra $50,000 per year on paint and labour – costing around $11,000 each time the field was required to be repainted. She also there would not be enough time to repaint lines between each use. “Regina’s very proud we have 700-800 hours a year of community use where those stadiums only support their CFL team, a semi-pro soccer team and university [football],” Coderre explained. “It’s much easier for them to paint what is needed for those games. Where for us, if we were to paint after a Rider practice ending at 3 p.m. on Friday, we wouldn’t be able to get a minor league on the field for a 4:30 or 5:15 p.m. kickoff because it takes 18 hours for the field to be repainted and for it to dry.” With Mosaic Stadium’s ability to extend the endzones and moving of the uprights, the City of Regina is advocating to Football Canada to allow minor football games on 100-yard length fields. “The city expects up to 97 per cent of historical bookings will continue to be accommodated at the Stadium with the new 100-yard field configuration,” the city said. Football Canada is expected to release its 2027 rule book in January. If it does not allow games on 100-yard length fields, the city still expects up to 84 per cent of current users will still be able to. “That remaining 16 per cent is practices that would still be able to be at Mosaic Stadium, but games would need to be played at Leibel Field, which continues to be 110 [yards],” Coderre explained. “The city is really committed to everybody getting a chance to play [at Mosaic] and we think we’ve done that turf arrangement.” The city says the Riders and CFL will be covering costs associated with moving the goal posts when required for field switches to not pass those on to minor football programs. With files from Ardenn Lloyd
