Current season, competition or edition: 2025 U Sports football season | |
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| Formerly | CIAU football, CIS football |
|---|---|
| Sport | Canadian football |
| Founded | 1961; 65 years ago (1961) |
| No. of teams | 27, in four conferences |
| Country | Canada |
| Most recent champion | Montreal Carabins (2025) |
| Most titles | Laval Rouge et Or (12) |
| Broadcasters |
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| Related competitions | Vanier Cup |
| Official website | usports.ca/fball |
U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play ofCanadian football and operates under the auspices ofU Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports.[1] Twenty-seven teams fromCanadian universities are divided into fourathletic conferences, drawing from the four regional associations of U Sports:Canada West Universities Athletic Association,Ontario University Athletics,Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec, andAtlantic University Sport. At the end of every season, the champions of each conference advance to semifinal bowl games; the winners of these meet in theVanier Cup national championship.
The origins of North American football can be traced here, where the first documented game was played at University College at theUniversity of Toronto in 1861. A number of U Sports programs have been in existence since the origins of the sport. It is from these Canadian universities that the game now known asCanadian football began. In1874,McGill University (Montreal) challengedHarvard University (Cambridge, Massachusetts) to a series of games.
TheGrey Cup, the championship trophy of the professionalCanadian Football League (CFL) since its founding in the 1950s, was originally contested by teams from theUniversity of Toronto andQueen's University and other amateur teams since 1909. Many U Sports players have gone on to professional careers in the CFL and elsewhere; a number are drafted annually in theCanadian College Draft. In2021, there were a record 208 U Sports alumni on CFL rosters.[2]
Maya Turner became the first woman to play in any U Sports regular season football game, on September 23, 2023, as aManitoba Bisons kicker. She kicked the game winning field goal in overtime for the Bisons in their game against theRegina Rams.[3]
The regular season is nine to ten weeks long, depending on the conference, and, as of2019, opens on the weekend before theLabour Day weekend. Teams play eight regular season games and regular season games are in-conference with exhibition (pre-season) games being played between conferences. Throughout the season, there are featuredhomecoming andrivalry games in most regions. Following the conclusion of the regular season, theHec Crighton Trophy is awarded annually to the Most Valuable Player of U Sports football.
After the regular season,single eliminationplayoff games are held between the top teams in each conference to determine conference champions. In the Atlantic, Canada West, and Quebec conferences, the top four teams qualify for the playoffs. In Ontario, the top seven teams qualify with the top team receiving a playoffbye to the next round. Because the OUA teams have conference playoffs that last three weeks instead of two, the first round of the post-season in the OUA occurs during the same week that each of the other three conferences are playing their last regular season games. Each conference has its own championship trophy; theHardy Trophy in the West, theYates Cup in Ontario, theDunsmore Cup in Quebec and theJewett Trophy in the Atlantic conference. The conference champions proceed to national semifinal bowl games: theMitchell Bowl and theUteck Bowl. The participant conferences of each bowl are determined several years in advance on a rotating basis.
The winners of each bowl game meet in theVanier Cup national championship, first established in 1965 and named in honour ofGovernor GeneralGeorges Vanier. The game was held inToronto every year through 2003 when host conference bids were first accepted, yielding a move toHamilton for 2004 and 2005, followed bySaskatoon in 2006.Quebec City,Vancouver,Montreal,London, andKingston have since hosted Vanier Cup games.
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| Institution | Team | City | Province | Founded | Head coach | Enrollment | Endowment | Football stadium | Capacity | Jewett Trophies | Vanier Cups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bishop's University | Gaiters | Sherbrooke | QC | 1884 | Chérif Nicolas | 1,817 | $32.5M | Coulter Field | 2,200 | 1 | 0 |
| Mount Allison University | Mounties | Sackville | NB | 1955 | Peter Fraser | 2,694 | $110M | Alumni Field | 2,500 | 6 | 0 |
| Acadia University | Axemen | Wolfville | NS | 1957 | Jeff Cummins | 4,358 | $96M | Raymond Field | 3,000 | 15 | 2 |
| Saint Mary's University | Huskies | Halifax | NS | 1956 | Steve Sumarah | 7,586 | $52.9M | Huskies Stadium | 2,000 | 24 | 3 |
| Saint Francis Xavier University | X-Men | Antigonish | NS | 1954 | Gary Waterman | 5,158 | $100M | StFX Stadium | 4,000 | 16 | 1 |
| Institution | Team | City | Province | Founded | Head coach | Enrollment | Endowment | Football stadium | Capacity | Hardy Trophies | Vanier Cups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of British Columbia | Thunderbirds | Vancouver | BC | 1923 | Blake Nill | 49,166 | $1.3B | Thunderbird Stadium | 3,500 | 17 | 4 |
| University of Calgary | Dinos | Calgary | AB | 1964 | Ryan Sheahan | 30,900 | $790.6M | McMahon Stadium | 35,650 | 18 | 5 |
| University of Alberta | Golden Bears | Edmonton | AB | 1910 | Stevenson Bone | 39,312 | $1.0B | Foote Field | 3,500 | 18 | 3 |
| University of Saskatchewan | Huskies | Saskatoon | SK | 1912 | Scott Flory | 21,168 | $214M | Griffiths Stadium | 6,171 | 21 | 3 |
| University of Regina | Rams | Regina | SK | 1999 | Mark McConkey | 12,270 | $25.9M | Mosaic Stadium | 33,350 | 2 | 0 |
| University of Manitoba | Bisons | Winnipeg | MB | 1920 | Stan Pierre | 28,335 | $424M | Princess Auto Stadium | 33,422 | 12 | 3 |
| Institution | Team | City | Province | Founded | Head coach | Enrollment | Endowment | Football stadium | Capacity | Dunsmore Cups | Vanier Cups |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Concordia University | Stingers | Montreal | QC | 1974 | Brad Collinson | 38,809 | $136.7M | Concordia Stadium | 4,000 | 3 | 0 |
| Université de Montréal | Carabins | Montreal | QC | 2002 | Marco Iadeluca | 55,540 | $276.5M | CEPSUM | 5,100 | 5 | 2 |
| McGill University | Redbirds | Montreal | QC | 1898 | Alex Surprenant | 39,497 | $1.45B | Molson Stadium | 20,025 | 3 | 1 |
| Université Laval | Rouge et Or | Quebec City | QC | 1996 | Glen Constantin | 37,591 | $108.3M | Stade Telus | 12,817 | 17 | 12 |
| Université de Sherbrooke | Vert et Or | Sherbrooke | QC | 1971 | Kevin Régimbald | 35,000 | --- | Stade de l'Université de Sherbrooke | 3,359 | 0 | 0 |
There have been efforts at establishing new varsity football programs at institutions that currently do not have teams. A group of alumni fromCarleton University inOttawa successfully revived thatschool's program which returned in 2013. The team is a member of theOntario University Athletics conference of U Sports, returning football to Carleton University after a 15-year absence.[4]
TheUniversité de Moncton investigated a possible football program in 2011, due to the construction ofMoncton Stadium in 2010.[5] In May 2011, the athletics department submitted a feasibility report to the school's president and are based part of their decision upon how the fans in Moncton received theUteck Bowl in 2011.[6] The 2011 Uteck Bowl was not well supported in Moncton, and there has been little support for a team since.
Aclub team league, theAtlantic Football League, features four-to-five universities, depending on the season. There is hope this may lead to varsity teams featured at some of these schools.[7]
Following their successful application to become full members of theCanada West Universities Athletic Association, theUBC Okanagan Heat explored the feasibility of starting their own football program, partnered with theCJFL'sOkanagan Sun.[8]UBCO would have partnered with the Sun in much the same way that theUniversity of Regina was paired with thePrairie Football Conference'sRegina Rams.
However, UBC-O lacked a stadium on campus. The Kelowna city-owned Apple Bowl Stadium did not meet the guidelines required for entry into Canada West football after a conference site visit in 2014.[9]
TheUniversity of Quebec at Trois-Rivières explored the possibility of adding a football program with the launch planned for the 2017 season.[10] The program would have been similar to Carleton University's in that there would be private funding from football alumni, but operated by shareholders.[11] As of April 2015, $800,000 of the required $3 million had been raised in support of the varsity sport at UQTR.[12] The capacity of thefootball stadium would then be increased from 2000 to 6270 seats.[11] However, the UQTR Board of Regents refused to commit to the proposal. TheUQTR Patriotes previously fielded a senior varsity team from 1971 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979.[13][14]
In February 2015, businessman David Dube (an alumnus and supporter of theSaskatchewan Huskies) andJim Mullin announced a proposal for a consortium known as the "Northern 8", which would organize interconference games between its member schools. Dube felt that this plan could help improve the prominence of CIS football on a national basis outside of the post-season (which, as of the 2014 season, was the only period of the season that featured nationally televised CIS games), as it would allow a nationally televised package of regular-season games to be sold to a major broadcaster. The Northern 8 would be structured as a non-profit corporation and would subsidize production costs for its telecasts: profits would be distributed to non-member schools. It would start with eight teams but could expand to 10 in the future. The Canada West conference backed the proposal. The OUA, RSEQ and AUS showed concerns for the plan due to travel costs and their effects on standings and rejected the plan.[15][16]
There are post-season awards for on-the-field excellence. The players deemed to be the best at each position are named to the annual All-Canadian Football Team as first or second team players.
Additionally there are a number of individual awards for categories like "best defensive player".
Many players from U Sports football have become professional athletes with most of them playing in theCanadian Football League. Opening Day of the2015 CFL season saw a record 199 U Sports football players on rosters around the League.[17] In2022, 205 former U Sports football players were featured on CFL teams' rosters on opening day.[18]
The following is a list of recent numbers from theCFL draft, which is an annual eight-round event with a current maximum of 74 players drafted. From1997 to2012 the CFL Draft had six rounds of selections and from2013 to2015 it had seven rounds. From 2002 to 2005, the CFL had nine teams, then reverted to eight teams from 2006 to 2013, and then was back to its current number of nine teams in 2014. The high-water mark of 60 players from the U Sports drafted was recorded in the2022 CFL draft, which was the most since1978.[19]
There have been 16 U Sports players drafted into theNational Football League withGiovanni Manu being the most recent.[20][21]
As of 2023, U Sports had produced 44 players who have played in anNFL regular season game:
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