With college hockey expanding in Canada throughout the 1950s, many colleges in Ontario were looking to establish themselves but faced a difficult challenge. The major programs of the day would not have given their newer, smaller counterparts much room with which to grow. An intermediate league, the Ottawa–St. Lawerence Conference, had already been formed but many other programs did not want to take on the expense of travelling several hundred miles for second-tier collegiate games. By 1958, enough programs were operating in southern Ontario to form a new intermediate league. The Ontario Intercollegiate Athletic Association began with five teams around the western edge of Lake Ontario. The league remained unchanged for four years when two teams left for the top tier Quebec–Ontario Athletic Association. In their place, five new programs were added in 1962. After the league's first season as an team-conference, the OIAA petitioned to receive a bid to the U Sports men's ice hockey championship. The league's bid was rejected and the conference responded by disbanding mid-way through the following year. In the summer of 1964, the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union reconsidered their position and agreed to invite the OIAA champion to participate.[1]
When the league reformed, the teams were divided into two groups and the winner of each group would play for the league championship. After two teams withdrew that offseason, the group format was abandoned, as was the tournament. The OIAA would award the championship to the team that finished with the best regular season record for four years before restarting the tournament in 1970. In 1971, the four leagues in Ontario and Quebec were realigned along provincial borders and the OIAA ceased to exist.
Note: Records incomplete. Note: All league members withdrew from competition in protest over not being invited to participate in the 1964 CIAU University Cup. no playoffs
