Par R. E. Watkins, B.A., M.Sc., Ph.D. © Tous droits réservés

Une grande partie de l'histoire de football universitaire au Québec est irrévocablement entrelacée avec celle de l’Ontario. Pour l'aisance des structures d'organisations et parce que la majorité des institutions ayant des programmes de football dans les premières années étaient en Ontario, les premières années du football universitaire québécois sont aussi incluses dans cette section.

(Version française disponible bientôt)
The oldest interuniversity football league was the Canadian Intercollegiate Rugby Football Union (CIRFU) formed in late 1897 and 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) *
McGill University Redmen 1898-1970
McMaster University Marauders 1952-1953 **, 1968-1970
Ottawa College 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

* Following 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.
** McMaster 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)
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)
Bishop's University Gaiters ** 1967-1970
Carleton University Ravens *** 1967-1970
Sir George Williams University Georgians ** 1968-1970
Laurentian University Voyageurs *** 1967-1970
Loyola College Warriors ** 1967-1970
Macdonald College Aggies ** 1967-1970
McMaster University Marauders 1967
Université de Montréal Carabins ** 1967-1970
OAC Aggies * / University of Guelph Gryphons *** 1967-1970
University of Ottawa Gee-Gees *** 1967-1970
Royal Military College Redmen ** 1967-1970
University of Waterloo Warriors 1967
Waterloo Lutheran University Golden Hawks *** 1967-1970
University of Windsor Lancers *** 1968-1970
York University Yeomen *** 1969-1970

* The Ontario Agricultural College became the University of Guelph in 1968.
** Denotes members of the CCIFC East Division after 1968.
*** Denotes 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 - Northern Division
Laurentian 1971
Ottawa 1971-1973
York 1971-1973
Eastern Section - Capital Division
Carleton 1971-1973
Queen's 1971-1973
Toronto 1971-1973
Western Section - Central Division
Guelph 1971-1973
McMaster 1971-1973
WLU 1971-1973
Western Section - West Division
Waterloo 1971-1973
Western 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 1979, the Yates Cup was awarded jointly to the two divisional winners.

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

* Waterloo Luthern University became Wilfrid Laurier University in 1974.
** Loyola 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 (Ontario University Athletic Association) football conference. In 1997 the OUAA became simply the OUA (Ontario University Athletics). The Yates Cup became emblematic of the OUAA/OUA championship each year.

Ontario University Athletics (OUA)
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 for the 2003 season.

Quebec Student Sports Federation (QSSF)

In 1988, the governing body of university sport in Quebec, the Quebec Universities Athletic Association (QUAA), became part of the QSSF which assumed responsibility for all levels of scholastic sport in the province--secondary, CEGEP and university.

As noted above, much of the earlier history of Quebec university football has been included in the Ontario section. However, when football conferences were structured along strictly provincial athletic association lines or where the majority of the teams in a conference were Quebec-based, these conferences are included here rather than elsewhere. The first such conference was the “B” Division of the OSL conference, later (in 1958) called the East Division of the OSLIAA conference.

Ottawa-St.Lawrence Intercollegiate Athletics Association (OSLIAA) East Division
Bishop's University Gaiters 1953 to 1966
Collège Militaire Royal 1953-1957, 1965-1966
Loyola College Warriors 1953 to 1962
Macdonald College Aggies 1953 to 1966
St. Patrick's College * 1953 to 1966

* Amalagated with the Carleton University Ravens football program following the 1966 season.

Aside from McGill, which was a member of the CIRFU/SIFL/OQAA from 1898-1970 and those noted immediately above as participating in the OSL/OSLIAA, all other Quebec-based varsity football programs existing at the time participated in the OIFC which lasted until 1966. All but McGill participated in the CCIFC which existed from 1967 to 1970 (see Ontario section above for details).

The next solely based Quebec university football conference was the eleven-team Quebec University Athletic Association (QUAA) football conference which had a rather short-lived existence from 1971 to 1973.

Quebec University Athletic Association (QUAA)
Blue Division
Bishop's Gaiters 1971-1973
Loyola Warriors 1971-1973
McGill Redmen 1971-1973
Montréal Carabins 1971
RMC Redmen 1971
Sir Georges Williams Georgians 1971-1972
White Division
Collège Militaire Royal 1971-1972
Macdonald College 1971-1973
UQAM Citadins 1971-1972
UQTR Patriotes 1971-1973
Sherbrooke Vert & Or 1971-1973

From 1974 to 1979, following the collapse of the QUAA football conference after the 1973 season, Quebec-based university football programs competed in the East Division of the OQIFC (see Ontario section above). As a result of the reorganization and renaming of the West Division of the OQIFC in 1980, the OQIFC East Division became known simply as the OQIFC with no division appellation. Also, the new OQIFC now had a championship trophy of its own to play for--the Dunsmore Cup.

Ontario-Quebec Intercollegiate Football Conference (OQIFC)
Bishop's University Gaiters 1980-2000
Carleton University Ravens 1980-1998
Concordia University Stingers 1980-2000
Université Laval Rouge et Or 1996-2000
McGill University Redmen 1980-2000
University of Ottawa Gees-Gee 1980-2000
Queen's University Golden Gaels 1980-2000

Following the 2000 season, the University of Ottawa and Queen’s University withdrew from the OQIFC in order to join the OUA football conference. As a result, in 2001 the OQIFC became simply the QSSF (Quebec Student Sports Federation) university football conference, more commonly known as the Quebec Intercollegiate Football Conference (QIFC).

Three years later, in 2004, the QIFC became the Quebec University Football League (QUFL). In 2011, the QIFC became the RSEQ Football League (Reseau du sport étudiant du Québec). The D. The Dunsmore Cup continues to be emblematic of the conference championship.

Quebec Intercollegiate Football Conference (QIFC)
Bishop's University Gaiters 2001-2003
Concordia University Stingers 2001-2003
Université Laval Rouge et Or 2001-2003
McGill University Redmen 2001-2003
Université de Montréal Carabins 2002-2003
Université de Sherbrooke Vert & Or 2003

Quebec University Football League (QUFL)
Bishop's University Gaiters 2004-2010
Concordia University Stingers 2004-2010
Université Laval Rouge et Or 2004-2010
McGill University Redmen 2004-2010
Université de Montréal Carabins 2004-2010
Université de Sherbrooke Vert & Or 2004-2010

RSEQ University Football (RSEQ)
Bishop's University Gaiters * 2011-2016
Concordia University Stingers 2011-Present
Université Laval Rouge et Or 2011-Present
McGill University Redbirds 2011-Present
Université de Montréal Carabins 2011-Present
Université de Sherbrooke Vert & Or 2011-Present

In 2017, the Bishop's University Gaiters withdrew from the RSEQ in order to join the AUS (Atlantic University Sport) football conference.

En avril 2019, l'Université McGill abandonne l'acronyme Redmen et adopte en novembre 2020 le nom de Redbirds.