Gather round the calendar Winnipeg Blue Bombers fans — you can now go ahead and lock-in your 2026 summer and fall evening and weekend plans, whether they include being live and in person to witness the action at Princess Auto Stadium or hunkered down in front of the tube or listening on the radio all around the planet.
The Canadian Football League unveiled its 2026 schedule on Tuesday, and the Blue Bombers slate of games features the usual gems and oddities. Following a pair of preseason games — May 23rd in Saskatoon against the Grey Cup champion Saskatchewan Roughriders and then May 29th with the B.C. Lions paying a visit to Winnipeg — the Blue Bombers will open the regular season on Friday, June 5th in Calgary against the Stampeders.
The playoffs begin with the East and West Semifinals on Saturday, October 31st, followed by the divisional finals on November 7th with the 113th Grey Cup to be held Sunday, November 15th at McMahon Stadium in Calgary as the Blue Bombers look to get back to the championship after falling short in 2025 after five straight appearances.
Here are a few notable nuggets from the Blue Bombers ’26 schedule:
- Winnipeg’s 10 home regular season dates — including an extra game vs. Toronto, more on that below — feature five Friday nights, three on Thursday evenings and two Saturday games — a matinee against the Roughriders in the annual Banjo Bowl on September 12th, and an evening visit from the Calgary Stampeders on October 10th during Thanksgiving weekend.
- Interestingly, after playing in four back-to-back/home-and-home matchups a year ago — a crazy total in a nine-team league — there is just one in 2026 and it’s the annual Labour Day Classic-Banjo Bowl doubleheader with the Riders.
- Winnipeg opened last season with a bye in the opening week and then played 11 straight games before getting another breather. This year the byes are more evenly spaced, coming in Weeks 3, 10 and 16.
- Winnipeg will play seven of its 10 home games between Weeks 2 and 13 on the schedule — June 11th to August 28th — including a stretch of three straight at Princess Auto in late July/mid-August, including its second bye week.
- The Blue Bombers will then finish with three of its final four games on the road, including visits to Edmonton and B.C. in the last two weeks of the regular season.
Here’s a more detailed look at the Blue Bombers slate of regular-season games, after the preseason contests against the Roughriders and Lions (all times Central):
GAME 1 | at Calgary
When: Friday, June 5th, 8 p.m.
Notable: The Blue Bombers will open on the road to start their season for the first time since a visit to Vancouver in 2019 and a 33-23 win over the B.C. Lions — a game in which Matt Nichols threw two TD passes to Drew Wolitarsky and a third to Darvin Adams while Andrew Harris rushed for 148 yards.
Since then, the Blue Bombers opened their campaigns by hosting Hamilton in 2021 (19-6 win), Ottawa in 2022 (19-17 win), the Tiger-Cats again in 2023 (42-31 win), Montreal in 2024 (27-12 loss) and B.C. last year (34-20 win).
Winnipeg has won its last three road season openers including the 2019 victory in Vancouver as well as a 43-40 OT decision in Saskatchewan in 2017 and a 30-26 win in Regina in 2015.
GAME 2 | vs. Hamilton
When: Thursday, June 11th, 7:30 p.m.
Notable: The Blue Bombers knocked off B.C. 34-20 in their home opener last season, a game in which Chris Streveler started for Zach Collaros and threw for 246 yards and three TDs — two to Nic Demski and the third to Keric Wheatfall.
Winnipeg is 5-1 in its last six home season debuts and 6-5 in home openers since Mike O’Shea became head coach in 2014.
GAME 3 | vs. Edmonton
When: Thursday, June 25th, 7:30 p.m.
Notable: The Blue Bombers had a 13-game winning streak against Edmonton snapped last October in a 25-20 loss in the Alberta capital, ending a run that had dated back to the 2018 regular-season finale when some starters were rested, and others had their snap counts limited with the playoffs looming.
Winnipeg is currently on a seven-game home unbeaten streak vs. Edmonton that dates back to a home opener loss in 2018.
GAME 4 | at Hamilton
When: Sunday, July 5th, 6 p.m.
Notable: Since 2015 the Blue Bombers have a losing road record against four teams, going 6-7 in Saskatchewan, 4-8 in Calgary and 3-5 in both Hamilton and Toronto. Winnipeg is a solid 9-2 in Edmonton, 7-3 in B.C., 7-2 in Montreal and 6-2 in Ottawa since 2015.
GAME 5 | vs Toronto
When: Friday, July 10th, 7:30 p.m.
Notable: The first of two visits by the Argonauts in 2026 because of the FIFA World Cup, running in Canada, Mexico and the United States from June 11-July 19. Rather than play home games in different locations around Toronto during the World Cup, the Argos decided to have their three ‘home’ games impacted by the World Cup played in Regina, Winnipeg and Hamilton during this stretch.
The Lions are facing the same predicament yet opted to play their two home games conflicted by World Cup games at B.C. Place in Kelowna against Calgary and Edmonton in an event they are calling ‘Touchdown Kelowna.’
GAME 6 | at Ottawa
When: Sunday, July 19th, 6 p.m.
Notable: Winnipeg is 6-2 in its last eight trips to the nation’s capital since 2016, including last year’s bizzaro 26-18 victory in which Chris Streveler completed just three of eight pass attempts for 54 yards — the lowest passing total in a Blue Bombers win since a 19-12 decision in Hamilton in 1974 in which the club had just 15 yards passing.
GAME 7 | vs Calgary
When: Friday, July 24th, 7:30 p.m.
Notable: Winnipeg dropped all three contests against the Stampeders a year ago — the three games coming in a stretch from July 3-August 9. Those losses included a pair of 21-point maulings and a one-point defeat on a last second field goal.
GAME 8 | vs B.C.
When: Thursday, July 30th, 7:30 p.m.
Notable: Winnipeg stumbled a bit against the West last year, finishing with a 4-6 record against their division rivals — the first time since 2018 the club has not had a winning record against Saskatchewan, Edmonton, Calgary and B.C. combined. That said, in the last five years the Blue Bombers are still a sensational 45-16 against the West Division.
GAME 9 | vs Ottawa
When: Friday, August 14th, 7:30 p.m.
Notable: The Blue Bombers return to action after their second bye week, having also taken a breather in Week 3. Winnipeg had won 12 straight games coming off a bye — including last year’s victory over B.C. in June following a break in the season-opening week — but then dropped its next two after a bye with losses to Calgary in Week 7 and Edmonton in Week 18.
That said, the Blue Bombers are still an impressive 19-6 after a bye week since 2015.
GAME 10 | at Edmonton
When: Friday, August 21st, 6:30 p.m.
Notable: The Blue Bombers were winless in Alberta last season, dropping two games in Calgary and a third in Edmonton. That marked the first time they went without a ‘W’ in the province since losing in both cities in 2015.
During a stretch from 2016-24 Winnipeg was 13-7 in games in Calgary and Edmonton.
GAME 11 | vs. Montreal
When: Friday, August 28th, 7:30 p.m.
Notable: The Blue Bombers led the CFL in attendance for the third straight season in 2024, averaging 31,196 fans per game. Since 2022, the Blue Bombers have had 27 crowds of 30,000 or more. That total is more than all the other teams combined.
Game 12 | at Saskatchewan – The Labour Day Classic
When: Sunday, September 6th, 6 p.m.
Notable: Winnipeg is 3-2 in its last five Labour Day Classics, including last year’s dramatic 34-30 loss in which the club rallied from a two-touchdown deficit with 10 minutes remaining to pull to within 32-20, only to have a two-point convert attempt intercepted by Tevaughn Campbell and returned for a two-point safety.
Zach Collaros threw for three touchdowns in that game and now has a 40-12 TD-to-interception ratio against Saskatchewan since becoming the Blue Bombers starter. Over that span, Winnipeg is 15-7 vs. its arch-rivals.
GAME 13 | vs Saskatchewan – The Banjo Bowl
When: Saturday, September 12th, 3 p.m.
Notable: The Blue Bombers are 8-2 in the last 10 Banjo Bowl games, including last year’s 21-13 loss in which Collaros was injured in the third quarter with Winnipeg leading 13-12 after a high hit by Roughrider defender C.J. Reavis — a play in which he was later fined by the league, and which drew criticism from within the Saskatchewan camp.
Winnipeg lost both ends of the Labour Day Classic/Banjo Bowl doubleheader for the first time since 2018 after sweeping the series in three of the previous five years. Overall, there have been 12 sweeps in this series since the Banjo Bowl’s inception in 2004 — seven by the Roughriders and five by Winnipeg.
GAME 14 | vs. Toronto
When: Friday, September 25th, 6 p.m.
Notable: Winnipeg has lost four of its last five against the Argos, including the defeat in the 2024 Grey Cup. The Blue Bombers lost 31-17 in Toronto last summer — the club’s only meeting against their East Division rivals.
Winnipeg is 7-6 in its last 13 games against Toronto since 2018.
GAME 15 | at Montreal
When: Saturday, October 3rd, 6 p.m.
Notable: The Blue Bombers have won four straight regular-season games in Montreal, including last year’s 26-13 victory in August. Winnipeg is also a solid 8-3 in 11 regular season trips to Montreal since O’Shea became boss.
Worth noting here, of course, is the club’s last visit to Quebec — in November for the Eastern Semi-Final as the crossover team — saw them fall 42-33 to the Alouettes.
GAME 16 | vs. Calgary
When: Saturday, October 10th, 6 p.m.
Notable: The Blue Bombers were a horrific 11-25 at home from 2013-16. Since then, the club has posted eight consecutive seasons of home winning records, going 56-14 over that span and winning Grey Cups in 2019 and 2021.
That marks the second-best run at home in franchise history in terms of consecutive winning seasons. Over a nine-year span from 1980-88 Winnipeg posted home winning seasons every year, going 59-16 during that run and winning two Grey Cups, in 1984 and 1988.
GAME 17 | at Edmonton
When: Friday, October 16th, 8:30 p.m.
Notable: Brady Oliveira rushed 12 times for 117 yards in his lone game against the Elks last year — he missed an early season contest — upping his career 100-yard game total versus Edmonton to five.
Since 2021 Oliveira has posted 21 career 100-yard rushing games — five each against Edmonton and Hamilton, three vs. Montreal, two vs. Calgary, Ottawa and Saskatchewan and one coming against both B.C. and Toronto.
GAME 18 | at B.C.
When: Friday, October 23, 9 p.m.
Notable: Winnipeg has won its last four trips to B.C. to face the Lions, including last year’s 27-14 victory on June 21. The Blue Bombers are 7-3 in their last 10 against the Lions in Vancouver.
