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

University Football in Central Canada from 1980 to the Present

• 1980 - one change in league names took place, the eight-team OQIFC West Division was renamed the OUAA football conference while the now six-team OQIFC East Division became simply the OQIFC without a division appellation, the conference alignments were as follows:
  • OUAA: Guelph, Laurier, McMaster, Waterloo, Western, Toronto, Windsor and York;
  • OQIFC: Bishop's, Carleton, Concordia, McGill, Ottawa, and Queen's.

• 1980 - the Yates Cup was now awarded solely to the OUAA champions while a new trophy--the Dunsmore Cup--became emblematic of the OQIFC championship (Note: the Dunsmore Cup was not actually established until 1987. It was donated by Robert [Bob] L. Dunsmore who, at the age of 93, was the oldest living Queen's football alumnus [having played during the 1913 and 1914 seasons]. The Cup was granted retroactively to the champions of the OQIFC from 1980 onwards.)

• 1988 - the governing body of university sport in Quebec, the Quebec Universities Athletic Association (QUAA) became a part of the Quebec Student Sport Federation (QSSF) which assumed responsibility for all scholastic sport in the province at the secondary, CEGEP and university levels

• The twenty-one year period from 1980 to 2000 was characterized above all by stability with only two changes in participating programs having taken place (see 1996 and 1999 below)

• 1996 - Laval University joined the OQIFC

• 1997 - one more conference/athletic association name change took place, the Ontario Universities Athletic Association (OUAA) changed its name to Ontario University Athletics (OUA) thus the OUAA football conference became the OUA football conference

• 1999 - Carleton folded its football program following the 1998 season, once again leaving the OQIFC with six teams:
  • OQIFC: Bishop's, Concordia, Laval, McGill, Ottawa, and Queen's.

• 2001 - Ottawa and Queen's left the OQIFC to joining the OUA making this latter a 10-team football conference; the OQIFC shortened its name to the Quebec Interuniversity Football Conference (QIFC):
  • OUA: Guelph, Laurier, McMaster, Ottawa, Queen's, Waterloo, Western, Toronto, Windsor and York;
  • QIFC: Bishop's, Concordia, Laval and McGill.

• 2002 - the QIFC welcomed the Université de Montréal Carabins as a fifth member of the league, this school had not had a varsity football program since 1971

• 2002 - the QIFC and the Atlantic Universities Football Conference (AUFC) agreed to begin interlocking play for the 2002 season on a two-year trial basis

• 2003 - the Université de Sherbrooke, a school which had not fielded a football team since 1974, joined the QIFC
  • QIFC: Bishop's, Concordia, Laval, McGill, Montréal and Sherbrooke

• 2004 - the QIFC, now called the Quebec University Football League (QUFL), and the AUFC agreed to extend the agreement covering interlocking play between member teams of the two conferences

• 2006 - the interlocking schedule between the QUFL and the AUFC was renewed for a third time