Ward went undrafted in the
2017 CFL draft and instead returned to school for his fifth year of eligibility. Following a successful
2017 season, he signed with the
Ottawa Redblacks on 3 January 2018. Following the departure of 2017 kicker,
Brett Maher, the Redblacks had an open competition for their kicking position between Ward,
Richie Leone,
Sergio Castillo, and Mathieu Hebert. He went 4-for-4 on field goal attempts in the pre-season and won the starting placekicking job with Leone handling punts and kickoffs. On 28 July 2018, Ward tied an
Ottawa Football Club record by making seven field goals in a single game, tying him with
Terry Baker in 1984 and
Dean Dorsey in 1989. On 11 August 2018, he set the all-time CFL rookie record for consecutive field goals made with 22, surpassing
Luca Congi's benchmark of 21. He continued that streak to 22 September 2018 in a game against the
Edmonton Eskimos, where he broke
Rene Paredes'
single-season consecutive field goal record of 32 made in
2016 with his 33rd straight in the second quarter of that game. In that same game, he again made all seven of his field goal attempts, tying his own club record and extending his streak to 37 consecutive field goals made. On 19 October 2018, against the
Hamilton Tiger-Cats, Ward broke the professional football record of 44 consecutive field goals made by breaking
Adam Vinatieri's record from the
National Football League with his 45th straight field goal. He finished the 2018 regular season having made 51 field goals out of 52 attempts, shattering Paredes' single-season field goal accuracy record of 94.74% with a completion percentage of 98.08%. His single season consecutive field goal streak finished at 48 made by the end of the regular season. He was named as the Redblacks' nominee for the league's
Most Outstanding Rookie and
Most Outstanding Special Teams Player. At the 2018 Shaw CFL Awards ceremony, he won both awards, becoming the first ever kicker to win the Most Outstanding Rookie Award. Ward's consecutive field goal streak continued into the
2019 season, including in a game on 5 July 2019 where he made a career-long field goal of 53 yards. On 17 August 2019, Ward was wide right on a 34-yard field goal attempt, ending his consecutive field goal streak at 69 made. Later in the season, on 19 October 2019, Ward set a new
franchise record by successfully connecting on a 56-yard field goal, the longest in Ottawa professional football history. He did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the
2020 CFL season and signed a one-year extension with the Redblacks on 14 January 2021. On November 4, 2021, near the end of the
2021 season, the Redblacks announced that they had signed Ward to a contract extension that will keep him with the club through the
2022 season. On April 16, 2026, it was announced that Ward had been released by the Redblacks. ==References==