Stoney Creek company now making ‘Official Boot’ of the CFL

Baffin Inc., a Stoney Creek company whose brand is well-known with industrial workers and cold-weather trekkers alike, is now the Official Boot manufacturer of the Canadian Football League.

The Canadian outerwater manufacturer and the CFL announced a multi-year partnership on Wednesday (Nov. 9). The structure of the deal makes Baffin, which makes boots and other products intended for work and trekking in challenging climates, the official boot of both the league and the Grey Cup. While the deal has been announced days after the hometown Hamilton Tiger-Cats got, well, the boot from the playoffs, it will make Baffin a visible brand partner of the CFL throghout the two remaining stages of the playoffs . The divisions finals are this weekend and the Grey Cup is on Nov. 20 from Mosaic Stadium in Regina, where the temperature was -13C on Wednesday.

Hamilton will host the 2023 Grey Cup at Tim Hortons Field.

Baffin will also be running a Grey Cup contest. One fan will receive tickets, flights, accommodations and Baffin gear to stay warm at the Grey Cup. Contest details will be posted on the company’s Instagram page (@baffinworldwide) on Thursday (Nov. 10).

“As a true Canadian homegrown brand, we admire what the CFL does for Canadian sports and its fans across the country,” states Mark Hubner, who is senior vice-president (commercial) at Baffin, which employs about 80 people. “We’re excited to connect with these fans, who never let the cold Canadian climate stop them from showing up for a game.”

The CFL has moved the Grey Cup ahead a week to the third weekend of November in order to reduce the chance of the fans, competing teams and halftime performers — such as Shania Twain in Ottawa in 2017 — having to battle the elements. But games in the snow and cold are part the lore of three-down football. The CFL has been called the only league where a journalist’s wardrobe includes both sandals and a parka.

Baffin, located at 346 Arvin Ave., has been established in the Stoney Creek area since the late 1970s. It employs about 80 people. In 2018, it was acquired by Canada Goose Inc. in a $32.5-million deal but continued to operate anonymously.

League commissioner Randy Ambrosie welcomed the partnership.

“CFL fans love great football and great gear, and Grey Cup fans in particular, know how to dress for any kind of weather,” Ambrosie stated. “Now when they choose Baffin, they’re choosing one of our partners.”

The Tiger-Cats bowed out of the playoffs with a 25-17 defeat against the Montréal Alouettes in the East Division semifinal on Sunday.

Montréal faces the Toronto Argonauts in the East final on Sunday (Nov. 13, 1 p.m. ET). The British Columbia Lions, quarterbacked by Oakville native Nathan Rourke, face the two-time defending Grey Cup champion Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the West final (4:30 p.m. ET).