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What a few years ago seemed more like a pipe dream, a coast-to-coast Canadian Football League could become an on-field reality by 2020.

While the “stars would have to align” and plenty of hurdles would have to be cleared, a strong Maritime bid for the CFL’s 10th franchise could pay off in the next few months, with CFL shovels in the ground on a new stadium in Halifax before year’s end.

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“Everything needs to go right, and I’ve never been involved in a project where that happens,” said Anthony LeBlanc, an Ottawa resident and the front man for the Maritime bid. “Sure, we have desires. Then there’s reality.

“We’ll spend the better part of 2018 doing all the approvals and everything that’s necessary in starting to build a stadium. Best case, in the next six to eight months we have everything wrapped up. By best-case scenario, we have a team on the field by 2020, but that’s a real stretch. I think 2021 is more realistic. Just as long as we get it done. I don’t want it to be 2025 and we’re still talking about this. By the end of 2018, if we don’t have some shovels in the ground or at least real strong approvals, I’d be getting concerned. I’m a realist that these things can take time. Look at Ottawa. It took them (six) years before (the Redblacks) were up and playing.