http://www.cisfootball.org/award-vanier.htmlThe Vanier Cup was created in 1965 and is named after His Excellency, the late General Georges Vanier, then Governor General of Canada. The trophy was awarded to the winner of the annual Canadian College Bowl.
In 1965 and 1966, the Canadian College Bowl was an invitational event featuring two outstanding Canadian College football teams selected by a national panel.
The Vanier Cup took on a new dimension on 1967 when the Canadian College Bowl was declared the national football championship of CIS with semi-final playoffs to determine the finalists for the Championship.
In 1982, the name of the National Championship game was changed to the Vanier Cup, Canada's University Football Championship.
The Churchill Bowl and the Mitchell Bowl (formerly the Atlantic Bowl) are the semi-final games which determine the participants for the Vanier Cup.