THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ALBERTA COLLEGES ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
1911:
- Augustana University College founded as Camrose Lutheran College (name changed in 1991)
- Mount Royal College founded as Mount Royal Junior College
1913:
- Olds College founded as the Olds Schools of Agriculture and Home Economics (name changed in 1963)
- Lakeland College founded as Vermillion School of Agriculture
1916:
- Southern Alberta Institute of Technology founded as the Provincial Institute of Technology and Art (name changed in 1961)
1957:
- Lethbridge Community College founded as Lethbridge Junior College (name changed in 1969)
1961:
- Northern Alberta Institute of Technology founded
1963:
- First organizational meeting to discuss the formation of the "Western Inter-College Conference" (WICC) held at MRJC. Representatives from CLC, LJC, MRJC, NAIT and SAIT were present
- Vermillion School of Agriculture changes its name to Vermillion Agricultural and Vocational College
1964:
- WICC begins its first competitive athletic season in the officially sanctioned sport of men's basketball. The sports of volleyball, hockey, cross country running, curling, badminton, and bowling were competed on an exhibition basis only. Fine Arts competitions were also held in debating, public speaking, dramatic arts, newspaper, and yearbook. CLC, LJC, MRJC, NAIT and SAIT were the competing colleges
- Red Deer College founded as Red Deer Junior College (name was changed in 1969)
- Medicine Hat College founded as Medicine Hat Junior College (name changed in 1970)
1965:
- Red Deer Junior College was admitted into the WICC
- Hockey, wrestling, golf, and volleyball were added as officially sanctioned conference sports
1966:
- Olds Agricultural and Vocational College was admitted into the WICC
- Grande Prairie Regional College founded as Grande Prairie Junior College (name changed in 1969)
- Keyano College founded as Alberta Vocational College, Fort McMurray (name changed in 1975)
1968:
- WICC was changed to the Alberta College Athletic Conference
- The Fine Arts component of the Conference was discontinued
1969:
- Medicine Hat Junior College was admitted into the ACAC as a full-time member
1970:
- Grande Prairie Regional College was admitted into the ACAC
- ACAC entered into an affiliation with the college athletic conferences in the three other western provinces to form the 4-West Conference for regional play-downs
- Vermillion School of Agriculter and Vocational College
1971:
- First 4-West Conference Championships were staged in men's and women's basketball, volleyball, and men's ice hockey
- Grant MacEwan Community College was founded
1972:
- Badminton and curling were added to the list of 4-West Conference Championship sports
- Vermillion College was admitted into the ACAC
1973:
- Canadian Colleges Athletic Association's first official meeting
1975:
- Vermillion College becomes Lakeland College
1974:
- CCAA founded
- First CCAA National Championships are staged. Camrose Lutheran College wins the ACAC's first National Championship by capturing gold medal in men's ice hockey
- Grant MacEwan Community College was admitted into the ACAC
1972:
- Badminton and curling were added to the list of 4-W1978:
- Title of the Conference was changed to the Alberta Colleges Athletic Conference
1979:
- ACAC elects to permanently abandon the 4-West Conference Championships in favour of sending its own ACAC Champions to the CCAA National Championships
1981:
- ACAC receives incorporation status under the Alberta Societies Act
1982:
- First ACAC Executive Director was employed
1983:
- Lakeland College re-admitted into the ACAC after a nine year absence
1985:
- First ACAC business office opened in Calgary
- Keyano College admitted into the ACAC
1989:
- ACAC office relocates to the Percy Page Centre in Edmonton
1991:
- AVC Lac La Biche admitted into the ACAC (name changed to Portage College in 1999)
1992:
- Concordia University College of Alberta admitted into the ACAC
1994:
- Prairie Bible College admitted into the ACAC
1996:
- Briercrest Bible College admitted into the ACAC (located in Southern Saskatchewan, it is the only non-Albertan insitution in the Conference)
- The King's University College admitted into the ACAC
1999:
- Conference hosts CCAA AGM in Calgary
2000:
- Women's hockey introduced as an ACAC sport with 5 participating colleges
2001:
- Olds College rejoins the ACAC after an eight year absence
2002:
- University of Calgary admitted into the ACAC for participation in golf and women's hockey
2003:
- Conference declares a moratorium on new membership, the introduction of new sports and participation by current members in new sports.
- Pre 2002-03 Hockey stats provided courtesy of ACAC Hockey Online
2004:
- Conference hosts CCAA AGM in Banff
2005:
- Prairie Bible College withdraws from ACAC participation
2006:
2007:
- Swimming discontinued as an ACAC tournament sport
2008:
- Portage College enters men's hockey
- Portage College withdraws from volleyball
2009:
- Conference hosts CCAA AGM in Edmonton
- University of Calgary withdraws from ACAC (golf and women's hockey) to pursue participation in CIS (Canada West).
- The sport of Futsal is sanctioned by the ACAC as an exhibition sport.
2010:
- Futsal becomes an official sanctioned sport with 6 participating colleges
- Augustana Campus, U of A (AUG) starts participation in volleyball
- Concordia University College of Alberta (CUCA) starts participation in volleyball
- Keyano College (KC) starts participation in basketball
- Lakeland College (LC) starts participation in soccer
2011:
- In August, 2011 the CCAA changes their name from Canadian Colleges Athletic Association to Canadian Collegiate Athletic Association
- Ambrose University College is admitted into the ACAC
- Ambrose University College (Ambrose) starts participation in Futsal
- Olds College (OC) starts participation in cross-country running
2012:
- Mount Royal University withdraws from ACAC (badminton, basketball, futsal, golf, hockey, soccer and volleyball) to participate in CIS (Canada West)
- Olds College (OC) begins partipation in golf, soccer, basketball, and volleyball
- St. Mary's University College (STMU) is accepted into the ACAC
- St. Mary's University College (STMU) starts participation in the sport of basketball
- Keyano College (KC) begins participating in men's hockey
- Red Deer College (RDC) begins participating in the sport of futsal
- The sport of badminton was been suspended due to MRU withdrawal resulting in ONLY two schools partipating in badminton (RDC withdraws from badminton due to MRU entering CIS).
2013:
- Red Deer College (RDC) re-admitted into men's hockey for the 2013-14 season
- Red Deer College (RDC) withdraws from futsal
- Portage College (PC) starts participation in golf and curling
- UofA - Augustana (UAA) starts participation in golf
- Indoor track becomes an official sanctioned sport for the 2013-14 season
2014:
- Badminton is re-admitted into the ACAC for the 2014-15 season
- King's and Olds College are admitted into badminton for the 2014-15 season
- Grant MacEwan University withdraws from ACAC basketball, cross country running, soccer and volleyball to participate in CIS (Canada West)
- Ambrose University College (AMB) starts participation in volleyball in the 2014-15 season
- U of A - Augustana (UAA) starts participation in soccer for the 2014-15 season
- St. Mary's University College (STMU) admitted into cross country running for the 2014-15 season
2015:
- Ambrose University College attains university status and named Ambrose University (AMB)
- Concordia Univeristy College of Alberta attain university status and named Concordia University of Edmonton (CUE)
- The King's University College attain university status and named The King's University (TKU)
- St. Mary's University College attain university status and named St. Mary's University (STMU)
- Ambrose University (AMB) starts participation in basketball for the 2015-16 season
- Olds College (OC) withdraws from the sport of futsal reducing the sport to 4 participating institutions for the upcoming 2016-17 season
- Olds College (OC) starts participation in women's hockey for the 2015-16 season increasing women's hockey to 5 participation institutions
2016:
- ACAC launches ACACTV game streaming platform
- Keyano College withdraws from men's hockey
- GPRC withdraws from the sport of curling
- Lethbridge College (LETH) withdraws from golf
- NAIT withdraws from the sport of golf and cross-country running
- For the 2016-17 season, Futsal becomes a single Championship event (March 2017) eliminating two (2) regular season tournaments
- The King's University starts participating in futsal for the 2016-17 season
- Lethbridge College starts participating in futsal for the 2016-17 season
- Olds College returns to the sport of futsal for the 2016-17 season
- University of Alberta-Augustana starts participating futsal for the 2016-17 season
2017:
- St. Mary's University starts partipating in Indoor Track for the 2017-18 season
- Olds College withdraws from the sport of golf and cross-country running
2018:
- SAIT is accepted into the sport of futsal. SAIT starts competing in futsal for the 2018-19 season.
- SAIT is accepted into the sport of golf. SAIT begins competing in the sport of golf for the 2018-19 season.
- The rugby exhibition season is deferred to the 2019-20 season.
- Portage College is accepted into the sport of soccer beginning with their exhibition play for the 2018-19 season.
- Portage College is accepted as a full member of the ACAC with the addition of men & women's soccer.
- St. Mary's University is accepted into the sport of indoor track. STMU begins competing in the sport of indoor track for the 2018-19 season.
2019-20:
- Prairie College is accepted as an Associate Member of the ACAC in May, 2019. Prairie College is approved to compete in the sports of cross-country running, indoor track, men & women's futsal for the 2020-21 season.
- Medicine Hat College (MHC) is approved to participate in the sport of cross-country running for the 2019-20 season in May, 2019.
- In May, 2019, SAIT is approved to participate in the sport of curling for the 2019-20 season.
- MacEwan University is accepted in Canada West⁄USport men & women's hockey commencing the 2020-21 season. MacEwan University will compete it's final year of ACAC hockey participation in the 2019-20 season.
- Red Deer College withdraws from the sport of golf.
- UAA withdraws from futsal for the 2019-20 season.
- UAA announces withdrawal from men's soccer starting in the 2020-21 season.
- ACAC Women's Hockey, Men's Hockey and Indoor Track Championship cancelled in early March, 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
- CCAA Basketball Championships cancelled in early March 2020 due to COVID-19 pandemic.
- CCAA Volleyball Championships were completed with only essential competitions being played due to COVID-19 pandemic.
2020-21:
- UAA announces withdrawal from all league sports: men's hockey, women's soccer, men's and women's basketball, and men's and women's volleyball for the 2020-21 season only.
- Due to COVID, all sports were officially cancelled for the 2020-21 season by the ACAC.
- ACAC hosts an esports 'trial' tournament event featuring Super Smash Brothers Ultimate
2021-22:
- ACAC proceeds into a "transitional" season during and the aftermath of COVID with a reduced & late start of a scheduled season.
- Portage College is granted manifest hardship for curling due to COVID & online learning which reduced student-athletes on-campus.
- Red Deer College changes their name to Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP).
- The following members, MHC indoor track, NAIT futsal and GPRC futsal, were allowed to participate immediately without going through the sports application process during this transitional season.
- Esports application was considered in May, 2022 and would require two exhibition seasons of participation beginning in 2022-23 to progress any further.
- ACACTV impliments pay-per-view for the regular season for all mandatory streamed sports of hockey, basketball and volleyball.
2022-23:
- TKU is accepted into the sport of cross-country running & indoor track in May, 2022 and will commence participation in the 2022-23 season.
- MHC officially enters in to the sport of indoor track for the 2022-23 season.
- SAIT is accepted into the sport of badminton in May, 2022 and will commence participation in the 2022-23 season.
- Lakeland College is accepted into the sport of women's hockey in May, 2022 being fast-tracked through the sport application process and will commence participation in the 2022-23 season.
- Grande Prairie Regional College (GPRC) changes their name to Northwestern Polytechnic (NWP) in the summer of 2022.
- Due to the transitional season in 2021-22, NAIT & NWP is allowed to participate in the sport of futsal for the 2022-23 season.
- Telus strikes a partnership with the ACAC to live broadcast ACAC games for basketball, hockey and volleyball through the ACACTV platform for the next 3 years, starting with 2022-23 season.
2023-24:
- NAIT is accepted into golf and cross-country running in May 2023 and starts competing in the 2023-24 season.
- MHC is accepted into women's hockey in May 2023 and will commence competition in the 2023-24 season.
- Prairie College futsal membership while under probation was rejected and terminated following the completion of the 2023-24 competition season.
- RDP futsal membership application is approved and will commence in the 2024-25 season.
2024-25:
