It consists of a ten-team round robin featuring the winners of all nine CJHL member leagues as well as a pre-selected host city.

It is currently branded as the Centennial Cup after Tim Hortons, the title sponsor of the 2022 tournament, withdrew future sponsorship in response to the Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal.

[citation needed] Earl Dawson and Bill Addison were the named initial trustees of the trophy, both of whom were past presidents of the MAHA.

The Centennial Cup permanently moved back to the tournament format in 1986, with the addition of a predetermined host team to the field.

Overtime is common as the Junior A championships with the longest game in the tournament's history started on May 12, 2007, at 2007 Royal Bank Cup between the Camrose Kodiaks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League and the host Prince George Spruce Kings of the British Columbia Hockey League.

[4] The game lasted 146:01, just short of the CJAHL record set by the Toronto Jr. Canadiens and the Pickering Panthers in the 2007 Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League playoffs (154:32).

The 1972 Centennial Cup gained national attention when the Guelph CMC's of the Southern Ontario Junior A Hockey League were in the final game of a four-game sweep of the Red Deer Rustlers and their leading scorer Paul Fendley lost his helmet during a body check and struck his head on the ice, knocking him into a coma.

The National Hockey League prospect regained consciousness and died two days later from head trauma.

The final Centennial Cup from this era was awarded to the Calgary Canucks of the Alberta Junior Hockey League in 1995.