The Canadian Music Competition has been a source of music across the country for nearly 65 years. Since its founding in Montreal in 1958 by Claude Deschamps, Pierre Emond and Charles Charrère, the organization has been able to stimulate the vitality of a high-level classical music generation in all the communities where it operates; and thus demonstrate its rigor and its raison d'être in the Canadian cultural landscape.

Initially known as the Festival de musique du Québec (1958), it was in 1971 that it expanded its activities to the other Canadian provinces, under the name of the Canadian Music Competition. It was also at this time that the Springboard component was born, the objective of which was to offer talented musicians the opportunity to prove themselves in circumstances that are very similar to those prevailing in international competitions.

The regions are at the very heart of how it operates across the country (sections). Constituted as a section, it is present in 13 cities: six (6) regions of Quebec (Mauricie and Centre-du-Québec, Montreal, Quebec City, Rimouski – Gaspé, Saguenay – Lac Saint-Jean, Sherbrooke), Ontario (Toronto), Nova Scotia (Halifax), Manitoba (Winnipeg), Saskatchewan (Saskatoon), Alberta (Edmonton and Calgary) and British Columbia (Vancouver). The same spirit that spurred the founders is still alive and well with all the volunteers who contribute to the Canadian Music Competition. They are the pillars of the Competition and provide the energy necessary for the Competition to pursue its objectives.

The Canadian Music Competition has endured throughout its history because it was founded on solid foundations and has always been able to adapt to changing conditions in society; that the organizers have also always been able to show imagination, passion and determination. A gathering of this magnitude is a first-rate artistic watch to discover the best talent, a privileged educational tool for music teachers (from elementary to university level), a source of motivation and an essential place of learning for emerging musicians.

Since its founding, the Canadian Music Competition has seen thousands of young musicians come and go. Among them, great names on the national and international scene of today including Marc-André Hamelin, Chantal Juillet, Louis Lortie, Martin Beaver, Marie-Nicole Lemieux, André Laplante, Gwen Hoebig, Richard Raymond, Susan Hoeppner, Stephane Lemelin, Robert Silverman, Angela Cheng, Boris Brott, Anne-Marie Dubois, Jacques Hétu, Desmond Hoebig, Dennis Brott, Angela Hewitt, Janina Fialkoswka, James Ehnes and Kerson Leong to name a few.