Originally headquartered at CFB Calgary, it is currently based in CFB Edmonton in Alberta with two major units at CFB Shilo in Manitoba, and consists of eight Regular Force units.

The brigade was established on 14 October 1953 in Europe.

[1] In 1989 at the height of the Cold War the 1st Canadian Mechanized Infantry Division consisted of three brigades, one of them being the 1st Canadian Brigade Group.

It had the following structure:[2] 1 CMBG sent a contingent of approximately 200 personnel for Task Force Kandahar Headquarters for a nine-month rotation starting February 2009 and sent approximately 2500 personnel for the task force in September 2009 for a six-month tour.

The eight units that comprise 1 CMBG are:[3] 1 CMBG is colocated with, and frequently operates alongside, three regular force units which are not part of the formation: