Its mission is to help the individuals and organizations they work with be inclusive, and free of prejudice and discrimination – and to generate the awareness, dialogue and action for people to recognize diversity as an asset and not an obstacle.

The mandate expanded in subsequent years to focus on addressing issues related to racism, and religious discrimination in Canadian society.

Their primary focus was on providing school programs to educate students on issues related to bullying, bias, and discrimination.

CIDI was founded in 2012 by Michael Bach, the former National Director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion for KPMG in Canada, a role he created and held for seven years.

In July 2022, Anne-Marie Pham was named Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion.

The objective was to point out that there is no such thing as "gay blood" and that the deferral against MSMs was not based on science, but on outdated information, and was ultimately discriminatory.

[7] For example, Anne-Marie Pham, the CEO of CCDI spoke at the Winnipeg Chamber of Commerce’s second Commitment to Opportunity, Diversity and Equity (CODE) Conference in 2023.