Canada West Universities Athletic Association The Canada West Universities Athletic Association ( CWUAA ) is a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in co - ordinating competition between their university level athletic programs and providing contact information , schedules , results , and releases about those programs and events to the public and the media . This is similar to what would be called a college athletic conference in the United States . The CWUAA , which covers Western Canada , is one of four such bodies that are members of the country ' s governing body for university athletics , Canadian Interuniversity Sport ( CIS ) . The other three regional associations coordinating university - level sports in Canada are Ontario University Athletics ( OUA ) , Atlantic University Sport ( AUS ) , and the Quebec Student Sports Network ( RSEQ ) . History . The Canada West Universities Athletic Association was founded as the Western Intercollegiate Athletic Association ( WIAA ) in 1920 , but regular competition between schools at the time were often unfeasible due to the high costs of travel and existing rivalries with American colleges . In 1971 , the WIAA was split into the Canada West Universities Athletic Association and the Great Plains Athletic Association , the latter consisting of schools primarily from Manitoba . In 1988 , the GPAA ( also known as the GPAC or Plains Athletic Conference ) was absorbed into Canada West . Recent membership changes . In 2005 , Thompson Rivers University , based in Kamloops , BC began competition in the conference . In 2006 , the University College of the Fraser Valley , based in Abbotsford and Chilliwack , BC started competition in the conference . The school has since changed its name to the University of the Fraser Valley . On Sept . 1 , 2010 , the University of British Columbia at Okanagan ( UBC Okanagan ) was accepted as a member and commenced play in four sports the fall 2011 . Also on Sept . 1 , 2010 , Thompson Rivers and UFV became full members . On May 4 , 2011 , Mount Royal University was granted membership , effective Sept . 1 , 2011 . After receiving CIS approval on June 21 , 2012 , the Cougars started competition in men ' s and women ' s basketball , hockey , soccer and volleyball in the 2012 - 13 season . On Sept . 20 , 2011 , the University of Northern British Columbia ( UNBC ) was granted membership , effective immediately . After receiving CIS approval on June 21 , 2012 , the Timberwolves started competition in men ' s and women ' s basketball and soccer in the 2012 - 13 season . Facilities . Canadian athletic facilities are often listed by their " maximum capacity " , which is often an estimate of their largest recorded crowd in the facility . These maximum capacities can and often do include standing room patrons and attendees seated on grass surrounding a playing field . Seated Capacity is the actual number of permanent seats , be they grandstands or permanently in use bleachers . This is why you will sometimes see larger capacities listed for these sites when searching for them on line . When capacity numbers have mismatched on source sites , unless the larger capacity could be confirmed as a seated capacity , the smaller capacity number has been listed here . Please update with verified " seated capacities " only when the institutions release more accurate official seated capacities . < div style = > Thompson Rivers University only plays basketball and volleyball at the CIS level . Soccer , badminton , and men ' s baseball are also played , but currently not at the CIS level . The new football stadium for both the University of Manitoba and the CFL ' s Winnipeg Blue Bombers , now officially named Investors Group Field , was scheduled to be completed for the 2012 football season , but will now be ready for the 2013 season . The 33 , 000 - seat stadium ( expandable to 40 , 000 ) is at the intersection of University Crescent and Chancellor Matheson Road at the University of Manitoba Fort Garry Campus , beside University Stadium . Trinity Western University added Canada West teams in swimming , cross country and track & field for the 2010 - 11 season . Winnipeg has added wrestling for the 2011 - 12 season . Winnipeg also added baseball ( men ' s ) and soccer ( men ' s and women ' s ) but are currently not at the CIS level . Future Expansion . The media has reported that the following institutions are building their athletic programs for potential admission into the association . In 2012 the conference declared they would not take applications from new schools , as Canada West rejected a bid from Grant MacEwan University . Scholarships , UBC , Simon Fraser University , and the NAIA . In May 2005 , UBC made a formal bid to join the NCAA , but decided in April 2011 to remain a part of Canada West Athletics . See the UBC article for more details . Simon Fraser ( known as the SFU Clan ) did not compete in CIAU / CIS until 2002 , after a failed attempt to join the U . S . NCAA . On July 10 , 2009 the NCAA accepted SFU ' s bid to join NCAA Division II in the 2011 - 2012 season . Canada West proceeded as a 13 - team , 14 member conference for 2010 - 11 , with the inclusion of UBC - Okanagan as a non - competing , probationary member for 2010 - 11 , in time to begin competition ( pending summer 2011 CIS approval ) for the 2011 - 12 season . In May 2011 Mount Royal was awarded Canada West membership , effective Sept . 2011 , with competition to begin in the 2012 - 13 season . From its inception in 1965 , Simon Fraser competed in the NAIA to allow " full ride " scholarships . Canadian Schools did not allow any form of scholarships until the late 1980s . SFU was forced to leave the NAIA in many sports due to schools in the Northwest US shifting to the NCAA . Until 2009 , the NCAA limited membership to schools based in the U . S . Some Simon Fraser teams still competed in the U . S . before the school moved to the NCAA , and their men ' s wrestling program competed in both CIS and the NAIA . UBC has its men ' s baseball program compete in the NAIA .