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

National and Regional Championships

Introduction

Prior to 1953 - no record of post-season intercollegiate, inter-league play at the senior level; furthermore, there was no national umbrella organization for the governance of interuniversity sport (including football) in Canada under whose auspices a national championship game could be organized and played; it was not until 1961, with the formation of the Canadian Interuniversity Athletic Union (CIAU) that such a national body whose membership consisted of the various regional intercollegiate athletics associations across the country, came into being
1947-1964 - inter-league invitational and challenge matches, either pre-season or post-season, did occur on a somewhat hit-and-miss basis during this pre-College Bowl/Vanier Cup period
1965 - the Canadian College Bowl (for the Vanier Cup), a national invitational championship for Canadian university football, was established; winners of the five existing university football conferences (AUFC, OSLAA, OIFC, OQAA and WIFL) were eligible for selection as contestants in the championship game
1968 - a truly national intercollegiate football championship game did not occur until this year when the champions of the now four existing football conferences (AUFC, CCIFC, OQAA and WIFL) met in two semi-final bowl games with the winners advancing to the Vanier Cup game
Following is a brief run-down of the history of these events