The impact of U Sports’ transfer rule changes

Empowering early movers while testing roster stability

SportsSamuel Kayll — Published September 30, 2025 3 minutes

Beginning in the 2026-27 season, the U Sports governing body has announced that student-athletes in their first or second academic year will be able to transfer without penalty. The decision focuses on improved player empowerment, providing young athletes with the opportunity to make decisions to benefit their future.

"This is an important step forward for U Sports and for our student-athletes,” said U Sports CEO Pierre Arsenault in a press release. “The landscape of post-secondary sport is evolving, and our role is to ensure our policies reflect the needs of those we serve.”

Previously, non-graduating transfers had to sit out 365 days from their last date of competition, with special exceptions made for academic progression and sports like cross-country, swimming, and track and field.

“A meaningful amount of transfer activity takes place during the first two academic years of a student-athlete’s journey, often when they are working to find the right fit academically, athletically and personally,” said Tara Hahto, U Sports’ director of compliance and eligibility. “This policy change responds directly to that reality.”

D’Arcy Ryan, Concordia University’s director of recreation and athletics, noted that the new transfer rule didn’t come as a surprise. 

“We've been having conversations with regard to this one time on encumbered transfer rules for a couple of years now at U Sports,” Ryan said. “They've seen the number of appeals increase over the past several years.”

At the outset, it’s easy to imagine the impact the rules could have on teams and their rosters. In a conference like the Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec, Ryan acknowledged that a lack of continuity and roster stability could tank a team’s aspirations. 

“When you're trying to build a program and you put a lot of effort into recruiting, and your vision for that student is potentially in year three or four, but they jump ship sooner than that, there's that continuity issue,” Ryan said. 

However, while the changes mark a clear movement in the direction of player empowerment, they aren’t as drastic as the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s free-for-all between players and schools in the U.S. The U Sports change focuses its attention on providing flexibility and fairness to the students who may not have found the right program. 

Arsenault echoed this message in his statement.

“By providing a more responsive system for student-athletes at the start of their academic careers, we are empowering them to find their best program fit—both in the classroom and in competition,” he said.

Ryan agreed, noting that the onus falls on the athletes to make decisions and interact with other programs.

“When a student is committed to an institution, other schools and coaches cannot initiate contact with them,” Ryan said. “So it's up to the student if they're not happy in the program that they're in to reach out.”

But that’s not to say that teams won’t feel the impact. As stronger programs attract transfers from lesser-known schools, the possibility of a recruiting surge in the competitive imbalance looms, with the pillaged teams left to pick up the pieces.

“We're gonna have to really sell the strengths of our individual programs to try and retain these students,” Ryan said. “But in the end, if they're not happy, then those conversations happen early on with the coach so that they can start to plan.”

As schools prepare for the changes to come, it’s hard to predict exactly how teams will adjust. But for the moment, there’s one clear winner. 

“We believe this decision puts student-athletes first, which is exactly where they belong,” Arsenault said.

How schools adapt remains to be seen.

This article originally appeared in Volume 46, Issue 3, published September 30, 2025.