British Columbia Lions The BC Lions are a professional Canadian football team competing in the West Division of Canadian Football League ( CFL ) . Based in Vancouver , British Columbia , the Lions play their home games at BC Place Stadium in Downtown Vancouver , having previously played at Empire Stadium in East Vancouver from 1954 to 1982 . Due to the installation of a retractable roof at BC Place , the Lions will play at a temporary stadium located at Empire Field for the 2010 season and for the first five regular season games of the 2011 season . The Lions played their first season in 1954 , making them the youngest franchise in the CFL , and have played every season since . As such , they are the oldest professional sports franchise in the city of Vancouver and in the province of British Columbia . They have appeared in the league ' s Grey Cup championship game nine times , winning five of those games , with their most recent championship occurring in 2006 . The Lions are also the only Western Canada team to have won the Grey Cup at home , having done so in 1994 , while also becoming the only team to beat an American based franchise in a championship game , a feat accomplished in that same game . The Lions currently have the second longest active playoff streak , and sixth longest of all time , having made the playoffs for 14 straight seasons . Franchise history . The 1950s . In 1951 , a group led by Ken Stauffer and Tiny Radar were inspired by " Vancouver Sun " columnist Andy Lytle ' s article to start a football team in Vancouver ( an early team known as the Vancouver Grizzlies had played one season in the Western Interprovincial Football Union in 1941 ) . The ownership group sent their representatives to the off - season WIFU meetings to initiate Vancouver ’ s bid for a team . The representatives ( Radar and Orville Burke ) were told to return to the meetings the following year with a $ 25 , 000 good - faith bond if they could generate sufficient interest in the Vancouver area . The first meetings were held at the Arctic Club in November and a committee headed by Burke and Harry Spring of the Meraloma Rugby Club , set out to sell memberships at $ 20 each . They would carry the Black and Orange of the Meralomas founded in 1923 over to the professional team . Even though Burke , Vic Spencer and John Davidson offered the good - faith bond to the WIFU in 1952 , the idea of having a Vancouver team was rejected when both Winnipeg and Regina voted against the idea of a fifth team . The group in Vancouver , however , did not give up their efforts to have a franchise in the WIFU . On January 22 , 1953 , the first annual meeting of the club was held . In that meeting , Arthur E . Mercer was hired as the first team President of the Vancouver franchise . Later in the year Mercer , Bill Morgan , Bill Ralston and Whit Matthews went back to the WlFU meetings . This time they sold the idea of a fifth team on the Canadian west coast , and Vancouver was granted a conditional franchise , on the requirements that they would provide a 15 , 000 seat stadium , sell at least 6 , 500 season tickets , and guarantee travel expenses for the visiting teams . All the pieces began to fall into place when it was announced that Vancouver would host the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games , and that it would mean the building of a new stadium – Empire Stadium . By Easter of 1953 , Annis Stukus was then lured away from the Toronto Argonauts , to return to the West to become the first Public Relations Manager , General Manager and Head Coach of the franchise . Naming the team . During the rest of 1953 , a fan contest was held by all of the local media to pick the new nickname of the football franchise . In this contest , a new nickname was chosen because it represented a local landmark and legend of the area . The nickname of the team was based on The Lions , a twin mountain peak that can be seen toward the north of Vancouver , British Columbia . The twin mountain peaks name was based on legend that the mountains looked like two lions guarding the city . Through this landmark and legend , the " Lions " nickname became the winner in the fan contest to become the new name of the franchise . After the fan contest , it was revealed that the Vancouver label would not be part of the team name . Even though the franchise is based in Vancouver and the " Lions " name was based on a local landmark and legend , Annis Stukus decided to reject the idea of naming the team as the Vancouver Lions . Instead , Stukus decided that the team name should represent and embrace the entire Province of British Columbia . In the end , Stukus introduced the team to the entire Canadian football world as the BC Lions . BC Lions year - by - year . This is a complete list of seasons competed by the BC Lions , a Canadian Football League team . While the team was founded in 1954 , they did not join the CFL until it was founded in 1958 . Throughout their history , the Lions have won 5 Grey Cup s .