The Grey Cup, Canada's Super Bowl, Hits 100 and Transfixes a Nation In Toronto, a zip line was part of the festivities for the 100th Grey Cup game. On a Sunday near the end of each November, a nation stops. Televisions from bustling Vancouver in British Columbia to quaint Nova Scotia are locked on the broadcast of the Grey Cup, the Canadian Football League's championship game. Not only is the Grey Cup considered Canada's Super Bowl, but it also practically doubles as the country's alternate Independence Day. Understanding the significance of this game is a true test of patriotism. "Everybody in this country, at some point or another, has sat in their basement on a Sunday afternoon with a beer and chili and watched a Grey Cup game," said Chris Rudge, chief executive of the Toronto Argonauts. Among Canadians, the Grey Cup is considered almost as significant as all the wars the country has fought in, according to a 2008 survey by the Historica-Dominion Institute, which listed the annual game as the seventh-most important event in Canadian history. Last year, the 99th Grey Cup in Vancouver was second to the country's federal election as the most-watched TV day in the nation at nearly 5 million viewers, roughly one-seventh of the country. On Sunday at 6 p.m. Eastern, the Toronto Argonauts will square off against the Calgary Stampeders in the 100th Grey Cup. The game will be played at Rogers Centre in Toronto, the city that hosted the first Cup in 1909 between the University of Toronto and Parkdale Canoe Club (three Grey Cups were canceled during wartime or because of epidemic). "There's this nationalistic pride that we have because the C.F.L. is Canadian and it's the only thing that remains Canadian in terms of sports for us," said Lori Bursey, a Toronto native and an Argonauts season-ticket holder since the early 1980s. Being part of the 100th Grey Cup is huge for us. Organizers have spared no expense to celebrate the milestone. Rudge, who is also the chairman of the 100th Grey Cup Festival and served on the organizing committee for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, had an operating budget of $17 million Canadian for the festival, up from $1.6 million for the 99th. The Canadian and American dollars are nearly at par. This year's Grey Cup festivities were spread over 11 days, more than twice the usual length, and included an elaborate parade, a 200-meter (about 220-yard) zip line in downtown Toronto and a host of free concerts, street festivals and fan zones. The game, which sold out five months ago, will feature the pop stars and Canadian natives Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen as the halftime entertainment. For the last two and a half months, the Grey Cup traveled by train to 100 cities and towns. There were also 50 million Grey Cup collector stamps issued. A commemorative loonie (the Canadian dollar coin) was forged by the Royal Canadian Mint. "People have been inundated with the Grey Cup the entire year, and you can see the excitement that has been built up," C.F.L. Commissioner Mark Cohon said. No question, the fan support of the 100th Cup is a platform to boost Toronto's economy. More than 300,000 people - 50,000 of them tourists - were expected to pass through the festival. Hotels throughout metro Toronto have been sold out for several months. According to Tourism Toronto, the city saw $80 million in economic benefits the last time it hosted the Grey Cup, in 2007. Some believe this year's game could potentially give the city a boost to the tune of $150 million. "I think the return on investment will be well worth it," said Walid Hejazi, a professor at the University of Toronto's Rotman School of Management. The 100th Grey Cup also has relevance for football fans in the United States. This year, nine regular-season games and all the playoff games have been carried live on the NBC Sports Network. ESPN Classic has spent the last week replaying 32 of the best Grey Cup matches. The N.F.L. quarterbacks Warren Moon, Joe Kapp, Joe Theismann, Jeff Garcia and Doug Flutie all spent much of their early professional careers in the C.F.L. After being suspended by the N.F.L. in 2006, Ricky Williams spent a season with the Argonauts. Even the actor and wrestler Dwayne Johnson, known as the Rock, had a brief stint with the Stampeders in the mid-1990s. Cohon estimates that 50 percent of C.F.L. players are United States-born. Chad Owens, the diminutive and quick wide receiver for the Argonauts, is one. Owens, the league's Most Outstanding Player, set a professional football record with 3,863 all-purpose yards. A product of the University of Hawaii, who spent a few seasons with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Owens called playing in the Grey Cup his "greatest football accomplishment to date." Bursey, the longtime Argonauts season-ticket holder, will be in the stands wearing an Owens jersey and rooting on her team. She has attended every Grey Cup since 1984 except one. She said she cried during the Canadian national anthem at each Grey Cup. This one promises to be even more emotional. "It's really hard to explain not only to an American, but someone who doesn't follow the C.F.L., why this game matters," Bursey said. We'll be long gone before something of this significance comes again.