1 n. — Sports, informal, slang
a player who is brought in from elsewhere to play for a team representing a town, province, company, etc.
Type: 3. Semantic Change — Import, in this colloquial sense, is a noun designating a person, especially an athlete, that plays for a team representing an area to which he or she is not native. OED-3 (s.v. "import" (n.3a)) defines import as 'that which is imported or brought in; a commodity imported from abroad'. Within the context of sports in Canada, this definition is semantically narrowed to a person brought in from abroad for a team, typically because they possess a certain skill that is considered a an asset. There is evidence of the term among participants and fans of a variety of sports, including soccer (see the 1958 quotation) and hockey (see the 1978 quotation). Import can also be found in less structured settings, such as in the context of an office softball team (see the 1949 quotation).
See also Gage-1, s.v. "import" (5b), which is marked "Cdn. Slang", COD-2, s.v. "import" (5b), which is marked "Cdn Sport".
See also: designated import
2 n. — Canadian Football
a non-Canadian professional player (in practice, an American).
Type: 3. Semantic Change — According to the Canadian Football League, an import is a player not native to Canada, standing in contrast to the native Canadian non-import players. These titles, however, have since been replaced by the terms "International Players" and "National Players", respectively, though the older terms are still used. Though this sense of the term is similar to meaning 1, the CFL has outlined specific rules designating an import in the breakdown of team rosters. To be deemed an import, or International Player, the athlete in question must not be a Canadian citizen at the time of their first contract signing and cannot have spent five years in Canada prior to the age of eighteen. A team of 44 athletes is allowed a maximum of 20 import players (see CFL reference).
See also Gage-1, s.v. "import" (5a), which is marked "Cdn. Slang", COD-2, s.v. "import" (5b), which is marked "Cdn Sport".