The original Church of the Redeemer, a wood-frame building erected just east of the present site, was completed and opened for worship August 3, 1884.

Originally intended to serve as a parish church, it was proclaimed the temporary pro-cathedral on February 14, 1889, following the creation of the Diocese of Calgary and pending the assumed ultimate construction of a cathedral.

It was designated a full cathedral in June 1949, when it was obvious that a large edifice of British or European proportions would not be built in Calgary.

Derek Hoskin, eighth Bishop of Calgary, was consecrated and enthroned in the Cathedral Church of the Redeemer on September 29, 2006.

The bell was donated as a remembrance to Corporal Lowry of the North-West Mounted Police who died during the Riel Rebellion of 1885.