The

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

BC Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team based in Vancouver, British Columbia. The Lions compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL), and play their home games at BC Place. The Lions playe ...

season was the 59th season for the team in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

and their 63rd overall. The Lions finished in second place in the West Division and finished with a 12–6 record. It was only the third time in franchise history that the Lions had finished in second place, and the first time they have done so since

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

. In each of those three years, the Lions hosted and defeated the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

in the West Semi-Final. This was the team's second stint under now tenth-year

head coach A head coach, senior coach, or manager is a professional responsible for training and developing athletes within a sports team. This role often has a higher public profile and salary than other coaching positions. In some sports, such as associat ...

Wally Buono Pasquale "Wally" Buono (born February 7, 1950) is a Canadian ex-football coach currently working as the vice president of football operations, alternate governor and the former head coach of the BC Lions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), a ...

, and his 14th season as the

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. Buono took over the position following

Jeff Tedford Jeffrey Raye Tedford (born November 2, 1961) is an American football coach and former player. From 2002 to 2012, Tedford was the head football coach for the California Golden Bears, where he was twice named Pac-10 Coach of the Year and holds ...

's resignation on December 2, 2015. The Lions improved upon their 7–11 record from 2015 and qualified for the playoffs for the 20th straight year, which is the second-longest streak in CFL history. After winning the West Semi-Final against the Blue Bombers, the Lions lost to the

Calgary Stampeders The Calgary Stampeders are a professional Canadian football team based in Calgary, Alberta. The Stampeders compete in the West Division (CFL), West Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL). The club plays its home games at McMahon Stadium a ...

in the West Final. For the seventh consecutive season, the Lions held their training camp at

Hillside Stadium Hillside Stadium is a multi-purpose, fully lit stadium located next to Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, British Columbia. It is the home of the Thompson Rivers WolfPack, Kamloops Broncos of the Canadian Junior Football League, and the K ...

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the North Thompson River, North and South Thompson Rivers, which join to become the Thompson River in Kamloops, and east of Kamloops Lake. The city is the ad ...

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

with rookie camp beginning Wednesday, May 25 and main camp beginning on Sunday, May 29.

Offseason

Free agents

CFL draft

The 2016 CFL Draft took place on May 10, 2016. The Lions had eight picks in the draft, including two fourth round selections from

Hamilton Hamilton may refer to: * Alexander Hamilton (1755/1757–1804), first U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States * ''Hamilton'' (musical), a 2015 Broadway musical by Lin-Manuel Miranda ** ''Hamilton'' (al ...

and the loss of their fifth round pick in a trade for Tim O'Neill.

Preseason

: Games played with colour uniforms.

Regular season

Standings

Schedule

: Games played with colour uniforms. : Games played with white uniforms.

Post-season

Schedule

: Games played with colour uniforms. : Games played with white uniforms.

Team

Roster

Coaching staff

References

{{2016 CFL season by team BC Lions seasons 2016 Canadian Football League season by team 2016 in sports in British Columbia BC Lions, 2016