Женский университетский хоккей в Канаде: история и современность

U Sports women's ice hockey is the highest level of play of women's ice hockey at the university level under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. Women's ice hockey has been played in U Sports since the 1997 98 season, when the governing body was known as the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union, following a long stint of teams only competing in the OUA. There are 35 teams, all of which are based in Canada, that are divided into four conferences that are eligible to compete for the year end championship. As these players compete at the university level, they are obligated to follow the rule of standard eligibility of five years.

The 1890s marked the beginning of the first women's ice hockey teams in Canadian universities. These universities included the University of Toronto in Toronto, Queen's University in Kingston, and McGill University in Montreal. In 1908, other schools such as the Calgary Collegiate Institute and Mount Royal University began to ice competitive teams as well. In the early years, teams played behind closed doors and men were not authorized to attend the matches. The referee was the only man present during the matches. In 1921, the University of Toronto bested McGill University during the first Canadian women's university championship. The Toronto Lady Blues would gain 11 championship titles, compared with two titles for the Queen's Golden Gaels before the women's university league dissolved in 1933 During this time period, Elizabeth Graham, a Queen's University goaltender, carried a fencing mask during matches in 1927. On December 16, 1922, the Ladies Ontario Hockey Association (LOHA) was formed, and included several Ontario university teams In 1923, the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) is created with the aim of offering sporting events to students in Ontario. The WIAU coordinated the programs of the students, and several university women's teams were members there. Women’s ice hockey would not return until the 1960s at the Canadian university level. The revival in the 1960s resulted in the creation of new women's teams in several Canadian universities. In 1969, the Canada West Universities Athletic Association, with a mission to organize championships in multiple sports for women university students in Western Canada, presented a proposal which eventually led to the creation of the Canadian Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (CWIAU). The first recognized national women's championship was in volleyball, presented in March, 1970 at the University of Waterloo. While the CWIAU had been created, university women's ice hockey was still not prevalent outside Ontario, where the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) merged with the Ontario Quebec University Athletic Association (OQUAA) to form the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA) in 1971. The Bishop's Gaiters program joined the RSEQ conference in 2020–21 while the Trinity Western Spartans and MacEwan Griffins programs became members of the Canada West conference that same year. However, following the cancellation of the 2020–21 season, the Laurentian Voyageurs discontinued their women's ice hockey program in 2021.

UniversityVarsity NameCityProvinceSchoolFoundedArenaArenaCapacity Dalhousie UniversityTigersHalifaxNS1818Halifax Forum5,600 Université de MonctonAigles BleuesMonctonNB1864J. Louis Levesque Arena Mount Allison UniversityMountiesSackvilleNB1839Tantramar Veterans Memorial Civic Centre750 University of Prince Edward IslandPanthersCharlottetownPEI1969MacLauchlan Arena Saint Mary's UniversityHuskiesHalifaxNS1802Alumni Arena1,000 St. Francis Xavier UniversityX WomenAntigonishNS1853Charles V. Keating Centre1,500 St. Thomas UniversityTommiesFrederictonNB1910Grant • Harvey Centre1,500 University of New BrunswickRedsFrederictonNB1785Aitken University Centre3,278

UniversityVarsity NameCityProvinceSchoolFoundedArenaArenaCapacity West Division Brock UniversityBadgersSt. CatharinesON1964Seymour Hannah Sports & Entertainment Centre1,400 University of GuelphGryphonsGuelphON1964Gryphon Centre Arena1,400 University of WaterlooWarriorsWaterlooON1957Columbia Ice Field680 University of Western OntarioMustangsLondonON1878Thompson Arena Wilfrid Laurier UniversityGolden HawksWaterlooON1957Waterloo Recreation Complex3,400 University of WindsorLancersWindsorON1857South Windsor Arena1,000 East DivisionNipissing University Lakers North Bay ON 1992 North Bay Memorial Gardens 4,246 Ontario Tech UniversityRidgebacksOshawaON2002Campus Ice Centre800 Queen's UniversityGaelsKingstonON1841Kingston Memorial Centre3,300 Toronto Metropolitan UniversityBoldTorontoON1948Mattamy Athletic Centre at the Gardens2,796 University of TorontoVarsity BluesTorontoON1827Varsity Arena4,100 York UniversityLionsTorontoON1959Canlan Ice Sports – York1,200

The U Sports women's ice hockey championship is awarded annually to Canada's women's ice hockey champions at the university level. The championship has been competed for since 1998, when the sport was established in the league. Previously, the most important Canadian university women's ice hockey championship was the one from the Women's Intercollegiate Athletic Union (WIAU) (from 1921 till 1971), along with that of the Ontario Women's Interuniversity Athletic Association (OWIAA) (from 1972 till 1997) which awarded the Dr. Judy McCaw trophy to the team champion. The governing body was known as the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union (CIAU) when women's hockey was added to its championship roster. The body's name changed to Canadian Interuniversity Sport (CIS) in 2001 and the current U Sports in 2016.