The Eastern Conference extended its regular season schedule from 14 to 16 games in 1974. The Western Football Conference had been playing a 16-game schedule since 1952. ORFU, which had not competed for the Grey Cup in 20 seasons and had dropped to amateur status, ceased to exist. The Montreal Alouettes change their colours to red, white and blue, and adopt the triangular "Delta" logo with the Montreal colours in it on a navy blue helmet.
The first players' strike in league history occurred during training camp. The strike was settled prior to the beginning of the regular season. No games were cancelled as a result of the dispute. It was this strike, which coincided with a similarly timed strike in the National Football League, which brought into existence the World Football League, a potential rival league to both the NFL and CFL, and one of the WFL's teams was to be placed in Toronto. In retaliation, Canadian Parliament introduced (but never passed) the Canadian Football Act, which would have given the CFL a government-enforced monopoly on professional football in Canada. The spectre of the bill prompted the Toronto franchise owner to relocate his team to the U.S. before it began play, and the only presence the WFL would ever have in Canada was a single game in London, Ontario, a city where the CFL had (and still has today) no direct presence.
Regular season standings
Final regular season standings
Note: GP = Games Played, W = Wins, L = Losses, T = Ties, PF = Points For, PA = Points Against, Pts = Points