BCRU Announce Limits on Imported Players for 2025/26 BC Premier Season
The BCRU continues to fine tune the balance of trying to raise the level of play in the BC Premier through import players with the responsibility of developing domestic players. Their latest decision is that a maximum of 7 import players can be in a match day 23, or in other words, 16 domestic players (ie. eligible to play for Canada) have to be in the roster. This applies to the BC Premier team and the team they enter in the Division One league.
What will be most interesting, from the BCRN perspective, is how they implement this. They state “clubs will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Policy and submitting accurate Match Day Rosters each week.” Hopefully the BCRU provides more guidelines on what compliance and reporting they expect. Will clubs start marking an (I) on their published rosters for Imports? Will the BCRU start publishing the rosters each week and maintain an accurate record of domestic/import players. We’ll see but I hope the BCRU have given some thought into the implementation and tracking of this, and provide guidelines for reporting before the season starts.
from BCRU
BC Rugby can confirm that a Domestic Player Policy will be implemented for Clubs competing in Premier League competitions effective immediately.
The BC Rugby Board of Directors has been vigorously reviewing the BC Rugby Premier League competitions regarding the reimplementation of a Domestic Player Policy that requires a minimum number of Domestic Players fielded in these competitions.
Following consultation with Clubs that compete in these competitions, the BC Rugby Board of Directors met on Wednesday, June 4 and voted unanimously in favour of the Policy. The Policy requires all Premier League teams and Premier Reserve teams competing in Division 1 to field a minimum of 16 Domestic Players in their Match Day Rosters of 23.
The Policy will take effect immediately and be implemented for the upcoming 2025/26 Senior Club season.
The definition of a Domestic Player is; a player who is eligible to play for Canada under World Rugby Regulation 8 OR is a Canadian Citizen OR is a Canadian Permanent Resident.
Clubs will be responsible for ensuring compliance with the Policy and submitting accurate Match Day Rosters each week. Breach of this Policy will result in an automatic default and potential further sanctioning.
The purpose of this Policy is to establish clear guidelines for the number of Domestic Players in the BC Rugby Premier Leagues and adjacent second teams playing in Division 1:
- Encourage the development and recruitment of Canadian talent
- Enhance the level of competition through international participation
- Ensure the integrity of competitions in British Columbia
The BC Rugby Senior Rules of Competition will be updated with these changes ahead of the 2025/26 Senior Club Season.
I agree with BCRU decision to limit the number of imports. If we are going to develop players for International rugby competition Canada eligible players need to be able to play in our senior leagues. Having some imports helps to raise the level of competition and Seven in my opinion is a sensible number. I agree that some thought needs to be put to how to police the policy and it should be made abundantly clear that any efforts to cheat on this Policy will result in disciplinary action against those responsible. I recall some years ago an English League Manager was suspended for life for listing a player born in Canterbury NZ as being born in Canterbury England. When the team list are filed they should be signed as truthful and accurate! The BCRU needs to make it clear that this Policy will be enforced.
I don’t see many teams other than a couple possibly that wouldn’t be in compliance with this new rule anyway anyways?
Well, we just killed Canada Men’s rugby program. If a Canada player cannot compete at the Premier League because of imports then how do you expect him to compete at the international level. Just because you call yourself a Premier league, it does not make you a Premier player or Team.
Canadian clubs have to move forward not backward, if your club is failing do not blame the import rules, embrace them to develop better Canadian player and improve the calibre of play.
I do not see Canadian players crying due to the import rules, it due to the old guys who wish it was like it use to be, get over it!!!!! This is not MAGA
Same original Comments from John but put into context:
1. I agree with BCRU decision to limit the number of imports.
Why? Give data/evidence back reasons why we should limit. What good comes from doing this?
2. If we are going to develop players for International rugby competition Canada eligible players need to be able to play in our senior leagues.
Basically you are saying our Canadian players are not good enough to compete, ff our Canadian players are not good enough to play in the senior level with the imports, what good are they when they get matched against international player. Calling your competition senior level, Premier does not make it so.
3. Having some imports helps to raise the level of competition and Seven in my opinion is a sensible number.
Yes, imports definitely helps raise the level of competition so why limit it to seven if we are to make this league top level competition? This is counter to having the highest level of play possible. The league should have separate leagues, the Premier Elite Imports/Canadian league, and for players who cannot make the highest level, call them the Premier( give them the name) players who do no make the top level. Clubs can choose which league they want to compete at. I suspect certain club will not want to do this, to them it is too much shame to have to be in a non-elite division. Credit to the Kats Club who were once the hotbed of Canada Player to self relegate themselves to a lower division. True club of honor. If they decide in the future to move up they can on their terms and goodwill.
4. I agree that some thought needs to be put to how to police the policy and it should be made abundantly clear that any efforts to cheat on this Policy will result in disciplinary action against those responsible. I recall some years ago an English League Manager was suspended for life for listing a player born in Canterbury NZ as being born in Canterbury England. When the team list are filed they should be signed as truthful and accurate! The BCRU needs to make it clear that this Policy will be enforced.
What does this really policing really have to developing Canadian players, this appears more as a passive aggressive way of saying we know imports are better but we have to protect poor “Johnny Canada” status at the Premier level.
Instead of clubs stating the obvious, that we are not competitive at the Premier level against the clubs with imports, then just registered for the level of competition I.E division 1, 2, 3 that your club is competitive at or want to compete at, win or lose, but do not ruin it for everyone else to watch high caliber rugby.
The real issue for league has nothing to do with restricting the imports who want to play rugby in BC, it is the ($$$)money issue of paying imports to play. This neither helps develop young players or the league long term.
There are a lot of other issues that BC rugby can deal with, but changing the import rule is not one. One issue that comes to mind is better compensation to the referee, they deserve more in my opinion.
What an utterly misguided policy.
If your objective is truly to *raise the level of play*, why on earth would you purposefully cap it and put a glass ceiling in place? It makes absolutely no sense. The BC Premier League is already in far better shape than it was five years ago, when the standard was frankly very low. Now, instead of building on that progress, you’re actively dragging it backward.
How does forcing teams to dilute their squads with arbitrary quotas make Canadian players better? Playing against weaker opposition doesn’t develop anyone. If your real aim is to produce top Canadian players, then the path is clear: they should be playing overseas, in the best leagues and toughest environments, not in an amateur domestic league. Even our top domestic competitions aren’t remotely close to the standard of third-tier international rugby — as evidenced by our losses to the likes of Belgium and Germany.
It’s painfully short-sighted to think BC club rugby is still the primary breeding ground for international players like it was 30 years ago. News flash: the game has moved on. We’re now ranked 24th in the world and didn’t even qualify for the last World Cup. That breaks me as a Canadian rugby supporter. This policy does nothing to reverse that decline; it only weakens the level of club rugby, creating a more mediocre competition that prepares nobody for international standards.
Look at Portugal: they have a stronger domestic league than ours, yet they *still* actively encourage all their best players to go compete in France and the UK. The result? A phenomenal showing at the last World Cup. That’s because development happens by pushing standards higher, not artificially lowering them.
On top of that, applying this domestic quota to Premier Reserve teams in Division 1 — while not imposing it on other Division 1 clubs — creates a blatantly uneven playing field. Would like to see the logic applied there….
And let’s be honest: this whole policy rests on amateur organizations self-policing residency and eligibility. the BCRU already struggle to track basic stats like playoff appearances. Expecting them to accurately verify immigration status is a recipe for loopholes and selective enforcement. It’s naïve at best.
Bottom line: this policy does *nothing* to make Canadian players or teams better. It simply weakens the quality of club rugby, stifles competitive standards, and sets the game in BC back by decades. Sad times
Stated in 2023
“Premier League players should be playing at Premier League level and, in line with our Code of Conduct, we want to strengthen our commitment to be inclusive for all. Welcoming paying members, no matter where they have come from, is a tangible way to continue to grow all competitions and ensure our Premier competition welcomes the best amateur players residing in British Columbia.” John Tait, BC Rugby Technical Director
2025 The purpose of this Policy is to establish clear guidelines for the number of Domestic Players in the BC Rugby Premier Leagues and adjacent second teams playing in Division 1:
Encourage the development and recruitment of Canadian talent
Enhance the level of competition through international participation
Ensure the integrity of competitions in British Columbia
What’s changed?