For the second time in three years, the Toronto Argonauts and Hamilton Tiger-Cats did not play in their Labour Day Classic matchup, due to scheduling conflicts for both teams.
There were 15 double headers, with one on a Thursday, three on Fridays, nine on Saturdays, one on a Sunday, and the traditional Thanksgiving contests on a Monday.
The Hamilton Tiger-Cats played 2013 home games at Alumni Stadium in Guelph, with the exception of Touchdown Atlantic (see below).
The team's previous venue, Ivor Wynne Stadium, was demolished during the offseason, and its replacement, Tim Hortons Field, would not be ready until at least 2014.
For the first time in decades, the Tiger-Cats did not host the Labour Day Classic and instead traveled to Vancouver to face the BC Lions that weekend.
[6] After a one-year hiatus in 2012, Touchdown Atlantic returned for the 2013 season with the Hamilton Tiger-Cats hosting the Montreal Alouettes on September 21, 2013.
[7] On March 21, 2013, the CFL announced it had renewed its exclusive contract with TSN to televise all CFL games through 2018; the contract included the national radio rights to the Grey Cup, which would air on TSN Radio and The Team.
The expectations on the Ticats were very high after the off-season acquisitions of Henry Burris and Andy Fantuz which Cortez failed to live up to.
In mid-January, 2013, the Montreal Alouettes lost their head coach Marc Trestman to the Chicago Bears of the NFL.
Longtime general manager Jim Popp was interim head coach for the remainder of the season.
Tim Burke was fired on November 12, 2013 after the Winnipeg Blue Bombers finished last in the league with a dismal 3–15 record.
[10] The Saskatchewan Roughriders are the 2013 Grey Cup Champions, winning their fourth title on home turf at Mosaic Stadium at Taylor Field by defeating the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, 45–23.