After establishing the first management diploma in 1906, McGill University began offering evening classes in business education in 1912.^[2] Following Canada's post World War II expansion, McGill University responded to the needs of senior executives by offering seminars in personnel management, marketing, and finance.^[3]

Concurrent to business seminars offered by McGill, the Executive Development Institute, a private business education organization, began to offer the Executive Development Course (EDC) in 1949, in affiliation with the Montreal Board of Trade. It was developed with support from the Graduate School of Business at Harvard University.^[4][5][6] A precursor to the existence of many MBA and later EMBA programs, the EDC was designed to provide a comprehensive look at management practices in strategy, human resources, marketing, negotiations and financial acumen.^[1][7]

In 1956, the McGill Management Institute was founded to facilitate the more effective delivery of business seminars offered at McGill University.^[1] In 1973, the Executive Development Institute merged with the McGill Management Institute and, under the McGill banner, continued the facilitation of the EDC.^[8][9] The merger coincided with a move to its current home in the Bronfman building at McGill University on Sherbrooke Street in Montreal, where it underwent a significant expansion of its offerings. By 1984, the McGill Management Institute was offering 70 day-time seminars and 20 evening courses each year, in addition to the EDC.^[1]

In 1993, the McGill Management Institute was renamed the McGill International Executive Institute. It took its current name, the McGill Executive Institute, in 2002. It is a division of the Desautels Faculty of Management.

The McGill Executive Institute has been noted for its approach to action-based learning,^[10] as well as for its international dimension. In his 2009 work, Executive Education in Canadian Firms, Bruce Gordon R. Fowler states the following:

The executive programs at this Institute recognize better than most schools, even among the other eight illustrious institutions discussed here, the need for international diversity and content. Indeed, McGill has been recognized as having an international dimension unsurpassed in North America for diversity among students and faculty, and for program style and content. The scope of McGill's global outlook is certainly equal to that of Harvard and INSEAD, also featured here as giants of international connectivity, which simply must be part of any program involving executives of international or multinational firms.^[11]

The McGill Executive Institute now offers between 80 to 100 open enrollment seminars annually, addressing a broad range of business topics. The institute's oldest program, the Executive Development Course (EDC), was launched in 1949. This program has since been expanded into two main cycles—the Executive Development Course and the Advanced Management Course—forming the Mini-MBA Series.^[12]

The institute organizes its offerings into several key areas:

• General management^[13]
• Business essentials^[14]
• Strategic innovation and operations^[15]
• Lean Six Sigma programs for training and certifying both Green and Black Belts^[16]
• Leadership and governance^[17]

Programs are accessible on campus at McGill University,^[18] online, in Toronto, and in Ottawa.

In addition to open enrollment seminars, the McGill Executive Institute designs and delivers customized learning solutions tailored to the unique needs of an organization's team of managers or executives. These custom programs vary from brief workshops to multi-year global initiatives and are available in English, French, or a bilingual format.^[19]

The McGill Executive Institute previously offered the International Masters in Practicing Management (IMPM) and the Advanced Leadership Program (ALP), in collaboration with:

• The Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore, India
• Lancaster University in the UK
• Korea Development Institute School of Public Policy and Management in Seoul, Korea
• INSEAD in France

Both programs were known for their global approach, conducted over several modules in various international locations. The ALP and IMPM were co-founded and co-directed by Professor Henry Mintzberg.^[20] The Advanced Leadership Program has been discontinued. The International Masters in Practicing Management is now administered separately under the McGill Executive Education umbrella, distinct from the offerings of the McGill Executive Institute.

Well-known McGill faculty members include Professor Henry Mintzberg on advanced leadership issues and Professor Nancy Adler on organizational behavior. Recent guest speakers of note have included business leaders Daniel Lamarre, Larry Smith, Jim Cherry, Alan Allnutt, Paul Côté and Pierre Boivin.^{[21][circular reference]}

The McGill Executive Institute has established partnerships with various organizations to deliver specialized educational programs:

• In partnership with the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) in Canada, the institute offers the Director’s Education Program.
• The institute also collaborates with the Women Initiative Foundation to deliver the Women Entrepreneurs and Leaders Program.
• It is a registered education provider with the Project Management Institute (PMI).
• In collaboration with the Canadian Corporate Counsel Association, the institute provides development programs for lawyers, focusing on financial literacy.

These partnerships are part of the institute's efforts to address the educational needs of professionals in different fields.