A Brief Introduction

Origins of the Game

Central Canada
- CIRFU 1898-1914
- Post WWI 1919-39
- Post WWII 1946-54
- A New Era 1955-66
- Ontario & Quebec 1967-79
- Ontario & Quebec 1980-
     Present

Western Canada
- WIRFU 1927-58
- WIFL 1959-1971
- CWUAA 1972-1998
- CW 1999-Present

Atlantic Canada
- Nova Scotia 1940-57
- NB and PEI 1948-57
- Atlantic Canada 1958-73
- AUFC 1974-Present

National and Regional Championships
- Introduction
- Churchill Bowl 1953-1964
- Churchill Bowl 1965-2002
- Atlantic Bowl 1959-2001
- Mitchell Bowl 2002-Present
- Uteck Bowl 2003-Present
- Vanier Cup 1965-Present

Conference Membership
- Atlantic
- Ontario
- Quebec
- West

Bibliography

A History of Canadian University Football
By Robert E. Watkins, B.A., M.Sc., Ph.D. - revised May 2006

Conference Membership - Ontario

Ontario University Athletics (OUA)

Much of the history of university football in Quebec is irrevocably intertwined with that of Ontario. For ease of organizational structure and because the majority of institutions with football programs in the early years were located in Ontario, the early years of Quebec varsity football are also included in this section.

The oldest interuniversity football league was the Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union (CIRFU) formed in late 1897 commencing competition in 1898. The Yates Cup was donated by Dr. H. B. Yates of McGill University in 1898 to be awarded to the league champion each year.

Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union (CIRFU)1 Team Year McGill University Redmen 1898-1970 McMaster University Marauders 1952-19532, 1968-1970 University of Ottawa 1905-1912 Queen's University Golden Gaels 1898-1970 Royal Military College 1913 University of Toronto Varsity Blues 1898-1970 University or Waterloo Warriors 1968-1970 University of Western Ontario Mustangs 1929-1970

¹Following the Second World War, the CIRFU became known as the Senior Intercollegiate Football League (SIFL), from circa 1956 onward it was known as the Ontario-Quebec Athletic Association (OQAA) football conference.
²McMaster was granted probabitionary playing privileges (exhibition games) in the SIFL for the 1952 seasion with full participation in league competition and standings to apply in the 1953 season.

A second senior-level university football conference was established in 1957--the Ontario Intercollegiate Football Conference (OIFC)--consisting of a combination of newly created post-secondary institutions as well as established institutions which had previously played football at the intermediate level in the South-Western Conference of the Intercollegiate Intermediate Football Union (IIFU) and the West or "A" Division of the Ottawa-St.Lawrence Intercollegiate Athletic Association (OSLIAA) football conference.

Ontario Intercollegiate Football Conference (OIFC) Team Year Carleton University Ravens* 1957-1966 Laurentian University Voyageurs 1966 Loyola College Warriors* 1963-1966 McMaster University Marauders 1957-1966 Université de Montréal Carabins 1966 Ontario Agricultural College Aggies 1957-1966 University of Ottawa Gee-Gees* 1957-1966 Royal Military College Redmen* 1957-1966 University of Waterloo Warriors 1957-1966 Waterloo Lutheran University Golden Hawks 1963-1966

*These four teams, in addition to being charter members of the OIFC, concurrently constituted the West Division of the OSLIAA football conference (see below for details).

Existing before and then concurrently with the OIFC was a group of football-playing post-secondary institutions in Ontario and Quebec which originally had made up the Ottawa-ST. Lawrence (OSL) football conference of the IIFU and, later, the OSLIAA football conference. The level of play might be described as a mixture of intermediate and senior although this distinction was fast disappearing. For the 1958 season, the OSLIAA was reorganized along eastern and western divisional lines with the West Division initially consisting of mainly Ontario-based colleges (see table above) and the East Division consisting largely of Quebec-based institutions (see Quebec section following). By 1960, the OSLIAA instituted a league championship game between the two divisional winners.

In 1967 a new university football conference was created--the twelve-team Central Canada Intercollegiate Football Conference (CCIFC). This league was made up of the ten members of the OIFC plus two teams from the East Division of the now defunct OSLIAA football conference. In 1968, with the addition of two more members (plus another in 1969), the conference was split into two divisions.

Central Canada Intercollegiate Football Conference (CCIFC) Team Year Bishop's University Gaiters2 1967-1970 Carleton University Ravens3 1967-1970 Sir George Williams University Georgians2 1968-1970 Laurentian University Voyageurs3 1967-1970 Loyola College Warriors2 1967-1970 Macdonald College Aggies2 1967-1970 McMaster University Marauders 1967 Université de Montréal Carabins2 1967-1970 OAC Aggies1/University of Guelph Gryphons3 1967-1970 University of Ottawa Gee-Gees3 1967-1970 Royal Military College Redmen2 1967-1970 University of Waterloo Warriors 1967 Waterloo Lutheran University Golden Hawks3 1967-1970 University of Windsor Lancers3 1968-1970 York University Yeomen3 1969-1970

¹The Ontario Agricultural College became the University of Guelph in 1968.
²Denotes members of the CCIFC East Division after 1968.
³Denotes members of the CCIFC West Division after 1968.

A major reorganization of intercollegiate sport in Central Canada took place in 1971 with the division of intercollegiate athletic associations along provincial lines, that is, the Ontario University Athletic Association (OUAA) and the Quebec University Athletic Association (QUAA). The OUAA football conference was a twelve team league organized in the following manner. The Yates Cup was awarded to the league champion.

Ontario University Athletic Association (OUAA) Eastern Section Western Section Northern Division Capital Division Central Division West Division Laurentian 1971 Carleton 1971-1973 Guelph 1971-1973 Waterloo 1971-1973 Ottawa 1971-1973 Queen's 1971-1973 McMaster 1971-1973 Western 1971-1973 York 1971-1973 Toronto 1971-1973 WLU 1971-1973 Windsor 1971-1973

Following the 1973 season, with the collapse of the QUAA football conference, another major reorganization of football conferences in Ontario and Quebec took place. The remaining football programs from the two provincial associations were folded into the new Ontario-Quebec Intercollegiate Football Conference (OQIFC) consisting of two groupings--the East and West Divisions. During the 1974 and 1975 seasons, teams in one division played a partial interlocking schedule with teams from the other division. Following the 1975 season, the partial interlocking schedule was dropped. From 1974 to 1978, the Yates Cup was awarded jointly to the two divisional winners.

Ontario-Quebec Intercollegiate Football Conference (OQIFC) West Division East Division Team Year Team Year Guelph 1974-1979 Bishop's 1974-1979 McMaster 1974-1979 Carleton 1974-1979 Toronto 1976-1979 Loyola/Concordia2 1974-1979 Waterloo 1974-1979 McGill 1974-1979 Western 1974-1979 Ottawa 1974-1979 WLU/Laurier1 1974-1979 UQTR 1977-1979 Windsor 1974-1979 Queen's 1974-1979 York 1974-1979 Toronto 1974-1975

¹Waterloo Luthern University became Wilfrid Laurier University in 1974.
²Loyola College and Sir George Williams University merged in 1974 to become Concordia University.

For the 1980 season, the OQIFC West Division was renamed the OUAA football conference, in 1997 the OUAA became simply Ontario University Athletics (OUA) and the football conference the OUA football conference. The Yates Cup became emblematic of the OUAA/OUA championship each year.

Ontario University Atletics (OUA) Team Year University of Guelph Gryphons 1980-Present McMaster University Marauders 1980-Present University of Ottawa Gee-Gees 2001-Present Queen's University Golden Gaels 2001-Present University of Toronto Varsity Blues 1980-Present University of Waterloo Warriors 1980-Present University of Western Ontario Mustangs 1980-Present Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks 1980-Present University of Windsor Lancers 1980-Present York University Lions* 1980-Present

*York University changed the nickname of its varsity teams from the Yeomen to the Lions in 2003.