The Canadian Football League opens the 2017 regular season with a bang, with Chris Jones and the Roughriders facing former Saskatchewan quarterback Darian Durant and the Montreal Alouettes on TSN's Thursday Night Football on June 22.

It will mark the first meeting between Durant and the only other CFL team he's ever played for. Durant, who played for 11 seasons in Saskatchewan and led the team to a Grey Cup in 2013, signed a three-year contract with Montreal after being traded from the Riders on January 13.

The game also marks the first for star receiver Duron Carter against his former Alouette teammates. Carter signed with the Riders last month after a controversial season in Montreal which included a run-in with Ottawa Redblacks head coach Rick Campbell and disputes with quarterback Rakeem Cato. 

Week 1 also features a rematch of last year's epic Grey Cup game, with the Calgary Stampeders taking on the defending champion Ottawa Redblacks at TD Place Stadium on TSN's Friday Night Football on June 23. Both teams will go at it again in Calgary the following week at McMahon Stadium.

 

The B.C. Lions will start the season at home against the Edmonton Eskimos on Saturday, June 24, while Drew Willy and the Toronto Argonauts close out Week 1 with their home opener against the rival Hamilton Tiger-Cats at BMO Field on Sunday, June 25.

A new era begins in Regina on Canada Day, when the Roughriders host their bitter rivals the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in their first regular season game at New Mosaic Stadium. The lone holiday matchup is the first of three key dates for the CFL's most intense rivalry, with both teams meeting again in their traditional Mark's Labour Day Weekend game on Sunday, Sept. 3 and their annual 'Banjo Bowl' game on Saturday, Sept. 9.

 

Rounding out the Labour Day weekend are the Alouettes hosting the Redblacks on Thursday, Aug. 31 and the holiday Monday matchups featuring the Stampeders hosting the Eskimos and the Ticats taking on the Argos at Tim Hortons Field.

The regular season ends on Saturday, Nov. 4, with the Division Semifinals on Sunday, Nov. 12 and the Division Finals on Sunday, Nov. 19. 

The 105th Grey Cup will be played on Sunday, Nov. 26 at TD Place Stadium in Ottawa. 

Click here for the full schedule.