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 - The West

Canada West (CW)

The CW football conference began life as the Western Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union (WIRFU) in 1927. Originally, the WIRFU was a loosely structured organization. Regular season competition between all the member institutions did not invariably occur on an annual basis. Long distances between member sites, cost of travel and established rivalries with community and other teams closer to home and with American colleges south of the border often prevailed over league play. It wasn't until the mid-1960s that the conference featured regularly scheduled competition involving all league members within a given season. The league has been variously known as the Western Canada Intercollegiate Athletic Association (WCIAA) football conference, the Western Intercollegiate Football League (WIFL) and the Canada West Universities Atheltic Association (CWUAA) football conference. It became simply the Canada West (CW) football conference in 1999. The Hardy Trophy, donated by Professor Evan Hardy of the University of Saskatchewan, known as "the father of western inter-collegiate football", is awarded annually to the conference champion.

Canada West (CW)1 Team Year University of Alberta Golden Bears2,3 1927-Present University of British Columbia Thunderbirds4 1928-Present University of Calgary Dinos/UAC5 1964-Present University of Manitoba Bisons2,3 1927-Present University of Regina Rams 1999-Present University of Saskatchewan Huskies2,3 1927-Present Simon Fraser University Clan 2002-Present

¹ No competition for the Hardy Trophy in 1932, 1940 and from 1949 to 1958.
² Alberta, Manitoba and Saskatchewan ceased fielding varsity football teams in the years following the Second World War so that by 1949 only UBC was left standing.
³ Alberta and Saskatchewan re-established their varsity football programs in 1959, Manitoba in 1962.
⁴ UBC is the only program of the original four to have continuously fielded a varsity team throughout the period 1928-present (WWII years excepted). They withdrew from CW league play in the years 1935, 1941-42, 1946-1948, 1964- 1965, 1968-69.
⁵ In 1967, the University of Alberta at Calgary (UAC) became an autonomous degree granting institution whose name was then changed to the University of Calgary. The varsity teams' nickname was changed from Dinosaurs to Dinos in 1998.