The festival was launched in 2006 by filmmaker Frances-Anne Solomon, through her CaribbeanTales Media Group production firm.
[2] In 2009, the festival also launched a separate sister event for youth films, staged during Black History Month.
[3] In 2013, it launched CaribbeanTales TV, a video on demand streaming service dedicated to Caribbean films.
[5] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, the 2020 festival was staged online through CaribbeanTales TV.
[4] The festival also sponsors an incubator program to fund film projects by emerging filmmakers within the Caribbean diaspora.