Dave Hawkshaw is the only Canadian to be a full time official in the NFL. Dave also had an illustrious career in the CFL.
Growing up, he was a multi-sport athlete as a high-level alpine skier while also playing soccer, baseball, and football.
His father, Bruce, was an on-field official in the CFL in the 1990s and the younger Dave would choose to follow in his father’s footsteps when he first began referring GSL football games alongside his dad and brother.
Hawkshaw’s early officiating career would see him on the field for numerous big games in BC high school football, refereeing many finals, whether it be AA or AAA, the Canadian Junior Football League, where he refereed finals in BC, or Canadian Championships.
He also officiated three years in university football, where he was chosen as the travelling official for the BCFOA through the early 2000s.
He would then be recruited to work in the big leagues. In 2005 at the Grey cup Dave was invited by George Black, the officiating Director to officiate in the CFL the following year. He was told in the locker room just before going out on the field as a ball boy alongside his brother Drew.
Officiating his first CFL game at the old Taylor Field in Regina in 2006 was the start of a 189-game CFL career that included three Grey Cups, one as an alternate and two on the field. Thanks to an officiating partnership between the CFL and the NFL in 2016, Hawkshaw had the opportunity to train in the U.S. with NFL officials for three seasons.
As of 2019, Hawkshaw was a full-time on-field NFL official. At the conclusion of the 2023 season Hawkshaw has officiated 113 NFL games and four playoff games, each year he was eligible to do so.
