The West Division is one of the two regional divisions of the Canadian Football League (CFL), its counterpart being the East Division. Although the CFL was not founded until 1958, the West Division and its clubs are descended from earlier leagues.
The Toronto Argonauts won the Grey Cup for the second time in five years.
The Winnipeg Blue Bombers were once again permitted to challenge for the Grey Cup following a rule dispute a year earlier. In a meeting of the previous two Grey Cup champions, the Blue Bombers prevailed, sending the coveted mug west for the third time.
Football returned to relative normal in 1945 following the conclusion of World War II. Two rivals from the pre-war years met once again in the annual Grey Cup, but on this occasion, the Winnipeg Blue Bombers were no match for the Toronto Argonauts. For Winnipeg, it was the worst loss by a western team in the Grey Cup since 1923 when Queen's University routed the Regina Roughriders 54-0.
For the first time in Grey Cup history, the same two teams challenged for the trophy for the third consecutive year. But unlike the previous two years, the Toronto Argonauts needed some late game heroics to win their third consecutive title.
The Sarnia Imperials were a football team from Sarnia, Ontario and a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, a league that preceded the Canadian Football League and contested for the Grey Cup until 1955. In their history, the Imperials appeared in three Grey Cup championship games, winning twice in 1934 and in 1936.
The Toronto Balmy Beach Beachers were a Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario and a member of the Ontario Rugby Football Union, a league that preceded the Canadian Football League. Spanning three decades, they appeared in four Grey Cup championships, winning twice in 1927 and 1930, and were the longest lasting member of the ORFU.
Toronto Parkdale was an amateur Canadian football and hockey club based in the Parkdale neighbourhood in the west end of Toronto. As a branch of the Parkdale Canoe Club established in August 1905, the club's hockey and football teams were nicknamed the Paddlers. They were also known colloquially as the West Enders, and as the Green and White, after the team colours.
The Hamilton Tigers were a Canadian football team based in Hamilton, Ontario that played in the Ontario Rugby Football Union from 1883 to 1906 and 1948 to 1949 and in the Interprovincial Rugby Football Union from 1907 to 1947. The club was a founding member of both the ORFU in 1883 and the IRFU in 1907. Throughout their history, the Tigers won five Grey Cup Championships and two Dominion Championships, including the 1908 title, the year before the Grey Cup was first awarded. After struggling to compete on a sound financial level with the Hamilton Wildcats, who had joined the ORFU in 1941 and later the IRFU, the two clubs merged in 1950 to form the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.
After a four year absence due to the First World War, the Grey Cup was up for grabs once again as a couple of familiar foes battled for the trophy. The Toronto Varsity Blues defeated the Toronto Argonauts. It was the final time these cross-town rivals challenged each other for the Grey Cup.
The 1909 Canadian football season was the 18th season of organized play since the Canadian Rugby Union (CRU) was founded in 1892 and the 26th season since the creation of the founding leagues, the Ontario Rugby Football Union (ORFU) and the Quebec Rugby Football Union (QRFU) in 1883. The season concluded with Toronto Varsity defeating Toronto Parkdale in the 1909 Dominion Championship game. This year was notable for being the first year that the champions were awarded the Grey Cup trophy, although it was not delivered to the University of Toronto until March 1910.