FOOTBALL ONTARIO
Post Secondary Pathways
This page is a guide for football Ontario athletes who are looking for information on recruitment and the post-secondary pathways to continue in their football development.
TACKLE & FLAG
Who Are These Pathways For?
TACKLE
Tackle Football Athletes
These pathways are for U18 athletes who are in or coming up in the last year of playing in the OFFL, OSFL, OFSAA, and OCFFL and are looking to see the options available to them to continue playing football.
FLAG
Flag Football Athletes
Women’s flag football athletes, including Team Ontario Flag, club and high school flag players, can continue playing at Canadian universities and colleges through varsity, intercollegiate and club programs.
TACKLE FOOTBALL · U SPORTS
What Tackle Pathways Are Available?
Canadian university football is played in four U SPORTS conferences.
ONTARIO
Ontario University Athletics (OUA)
The OUA and member institutions provide a shared focus on student-athlete success in academics, athletics, and community leadership. Student-athletes have access to exemplary coaching, superior training and competition, premier facilities, and outstanding academic programming within the scope of categories of The Sport Model and our respective institutions.
WESTERN CANADA
Canada West (CW)
Canada West (CW) is the leading university athletic conference in the country and is home to champion student-athletes that excel in the classroom and their communities. Canada West and our 17 members from across British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba collectively carry on a legacy of competitive excellence, as our champions proudly go on to represent the conference at U SPORTS national championships.
QUEBEC
Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ)
RSEQ is the governing body of the primary and secondary school, collegiate and university sports in Quebec. It also serves as a regional membership association for Canadian universities which assists in coordinating 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.
ATLANTIC CANADA
Atlantic University Sport (AUS)
AUS is a sports organization responsible for governing university sport at member Atlantic Canadian universities. The conference represents member universities and supports their academic missions.
WOMEN’S FLAG FOOTBALL
Flag Football Pathways
Women’s flag football is growing fast at Canadian universities and colleges. U SPORTS announced that women’s flag football will become a U SPORTS pilot sport beginning in 2027–28, with an inaugural Football Canada / U SPORTS Women’s Flag Football Championship. Until then, athletes can play varsity in Quebec, intercollegiate flag in Ontario through OWIFA, and on university teams across Canada, with programs meeting each spring at Football Canada’s Canadian Collegiate Flag Football Championship.
QUEBEC · VARSITY
RSEQ
The Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec has run women’s flag football as a varsity sport since 2021, with university teams including Concordia, Université de Montréal, UQAM and Laval, plus a college (CÉGEP) division.
- Full varsity schedule and RSEQ championship
- The most established university flag pathway in Canada
ONTARIO · INTERCOLLEGIATE
OWIFA / OUA Schools
The Ontario Women’s Intercollegiate Football Association (OWIFA) is the league for women’s flag football programs at Ontario universities and colleges, with 500+ athletes across 14 institutions, including OUA schools such as Toronto, Western, Queen’s, Guelph, McMaster, Ottawa and York.
- 5v5 non-contact flag in the fall and spring
- 11v11 contact flag in the winter
- Top teams compete at Football Ontario’s Intercollegiate Women’s Flag Provincial Championship
- See current collegiate rankings
ACROSS CANADA
University Programs
Universities outside Ontario and Quebec are building women’s flag programs, including in Saskatchewan:
- University of Regina Cougars: Green (competitive) and Gold (development) teams, with fall tryouts and a winter–spring season
- University of Saskatchewan: women’s flag football for Huskies students
- All programs can compete at Football Canada’s Canadian Collegiate Flag Football Championship each May
Coming up through flag? Use the Team Ontario Flag program and Team Ontario Flag Pathway to gain exposure to post-secondary programs, and visit Adult & Collegiate Flag for the intercollegiate championship. Programs and contacts change each year, so confirm tryout dates and eligibility directly with each school.
RECRUITMENT
Recruiting & the Letter of Intent
TIMELINES
When to Start Applying?
Are There Any Specific Signing Periods Related to the Letter of Intent?
No, with the one exception that a Letter can only be entered into in the 12 months immediately preceding the academic year you expect to attend a CIS member school. Any timelines or restrictions of that nature are imposed strictly at the discretion of the institution providing the Letter of Intent. However, it is not uncommon for a school to impose a reasonable time frame (or expiry date) beyond which an unsigned Letter cannot be signed and honoured.
NEXT STEPS
How To Pursue These Pathways?
Recruitment 101 / U SPORTS Recruitment
Team Ontario Recruiting Presentation (2023) →
Letter of Intent Program and Registry
The Letter of Intent (LOI) is a new national initiative that is designed to reduce and limit the recruiting pressures on prospective student-athletes, educate prospective student-athletes on the most applicable U SPORTS regulations, and assist coaches in their recruiting efforts.
The Letter of Intent should not be confused with a letter of admission from a university, as the Letter of Intent is related only to a prospect’s expressed intention to participate at a specific university in U SPORTS. It should also be noted that a prospect does not need to sign a Letter of Intent if they wish to play a U SPORTS sport. The Letter of Intent is a voluntary system that a prospect can choose to enter into and that is respected by all U SPORTS member schools.