The OIAF experienced a brief change of location in 1984 when it was moved to Toronto and subsequently to Hamilton, Ontario in 1986 before settling back in Ottawa in 1990, where it has remained since.

In 1999 the festival office suffered a fire, leading to many of the files from past years being lost.

In 1997 the Ottawa International Student Animation Festival (SAFO) was founded and held in alternate years to the larger OIAF.

In 2005 the OIAF moved from biennial to annual and as such the student categories became part of the main festival.

Today the OIAF continues to grow and is known in the festival world for its practice of pitting both commercial and independent projects in competition with one another, a strategy which leads to a wide breadth of styles and formats.