Ontario University Athletics Ontario University Athletics ( OUA ) 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 . OUA , which covers Ontario , 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 Atlantic University Sport ( AUS ) , the Canada West Universities Athletic Association ( CWUAA ) , and Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec ( RSEQ ) . OUA came into being in 1997 with the merger of the Ontario Universities Athletics Association and the Ontario Women ' s Intercollegiate Athletics Association . History . The first formal organization of intercollegiate athletics in Canada took place in 1906 with the formation of the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union . This organization had four active members : Ottawa College , Trinity College , McMaster College and the Royal Military College . As the years passed , the CIAU expanded until in 1954 the union had nineteen members . In 1954 , the administration of the CIAU was becoming somewhat unwieldy . There was a great variation in the standards of play between institutions , a different philosophy towards athletics between many members and difficulties in agreeing upon common standards of eligibility . It was also felt that the name Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union was not truly appropriate since intercollegiate athletic associations were also in existence in other parts of the country . In 1955 , it was agreed by the member institutions that the CIAU ( Central Division as it was then called ) would reorganize in two sections to be known as the Ontario - Quebec Athletic Association ( with nine members ) and the Ottawa - St . Lawrence Intercollegiate Association ( with ten members ) . The original members of the O - QAA had been joined by the Assumption College ( University of Windsor ) and were joined in 1961 by Waterloo and 1968 by Carleton University and the University of Ottawa . In 1968 , the O - QAA was divided into Eastern and Western Divisions in order to facilitate the scheduling of events . In 1971 , the Quebec - based universities in the O - QAA withdrew from the Association . Laval , McGill and Montreal elected to pursue their future athletic endeavours in the newly formed Quebec Universities Athletic Association . In the resulting reorganization meetings , the remaining members of the O - QAA , ( Carleton University , University of Guelph , McMaster University , University of Ottawa , Queen ' s University , University of Toronto , University of Waterloo , University of Western Ontario and University of Windsor ) voted to change their name to the OUAA ( Ontario Universities Athletic Association ) . Invitations were extended to all Ontario universities to participate in the reorganization meeting . As part of the reorganization , it was decided that all the trophies , records , etc . of the O - QAA would remain with and be recognized by the OUAA . The Ontario Women ' s Interuniversity Athletic Association was founded in 1971 , which provided athletic competition for women students in the universities of Ontario . The OWIAA was unique in North America in both its longevity and singleness of purpose . Formed by the amalgamation of the Women ' s Intercollegiate Athletic Union ( WIAU ) , which was founded in 1923 and the Ontario - Quebec Women ' s Conference of Intercollegiate Athletics ( O - QWCIA ) , the OWIAA continued the heritage of 50 years of women ' s interuniversity competition . This coalition was the only association for women ' s athletics to have survived through 60 years of commitment to women athletes in Ontario universities . In the spring of 1972 , the following institutions were admitted as full members of the OUAA : Brock University , Laurentian University , Ryerson Polytechnical Institute , Trent University , Waterloo Lutheran University and York University . The Royal Military College of Kingston was admitted to the OUAA in 1973 . Also in 1973 , Waterloo Lutheran University changed its name to Wilfrid Laurier University . The continuing evolution of the OUAA saw three Quebec - based universities ( Bishop ' s , Loyola ( now Concordia ) and McGill ) receive " playing privileges " in the OUAA football league in 1974 . In 1980 , football was reorganized so that the teams of the Ontario - Quebec Intercollegiate Football Conference - West Division would form the new OUAA Football League . The OQIFC East teams : Ottawa , Carleton and Queen ' s would join the three Quebec schools in the new OQIFC . In 1987 , the OUAA awarded playing privileges in hockey to three Quebec schools , McGill , Concordia and Trois Rivieres . In 1988 , Lakehead University was admitted to full membership while McGill , Concordia and Bishop ' s were granted playing privileges in basketball due to the folding of the Quebec Universities Athletic Association . Nipissing University was admitted in 1993 with full membership . July 1 , 1997 marked a new era of university sport in Ontario . Both the OUAA and the OWIAA amalgamated to form one association , Ontario University Athletics . In November , 1997 the OUA hired the organization ’ s first Executive Director . The “ new ” OUA office opened on September 1 , 1998 in Hamilton . In 2001 , the Queen ’ s Golden Gaels and the Ottawa Gee Gees football teams rejoined the OUA from the OQIFC , expanding the OUA Football Conference to ten teams . The 2004 - 05 season saw Royal Military College enter completely into the OUA . In the past , the Kingston school had competed in both the OUA and OCAA , but withdrew from OCAA competition entirely . In January of 2006 , the OUA welcomed its 19th member to the fold as the University of Ontario Institute of Technology was granted membership in a unanimous vote by the league ' s Board of Directors . The Oshawa - based school began competition in the 2006 - 07 season , particpating in rowing and tennis , while joining men ' s and women ' s hockey in 2007 - 08 . Member schools . - Algoma will begin OUA conference play starting on July 1 , 2013 . Sports . Member Universities of the OUA compete in a variety of sports at both the varsity and club levels . The OUA awards the Queen ' s Cup to its men ' s ice hockey champion , the Yates Cup to its men ' s football champion and the Wilson Cup to its men ' s basketball champion . Winners of OUA championships generally go on to compete in the national CIS competition , against the champions of the other three conferences . 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 = > Queen ' s has plans to relocate Richardson Stadium and reduce the permanent seating to 8000 . The city of Ottawa is currently negotiating with Jeff Hunt on refurbishing Frank Clair Stadium .