CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements.

The first CIGI International Board of Governors (IBG) meeting was held in October 2003, with early members including Jagdish Bhagwati, Joe Clark, José Ángel Gurría, and Anne-Marie Slaughter.

Medhora succeeded former CIGI executive director by Thomas A. Bernes, who previously held high-level positions at the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the Government of Canada.

A statement from CIGI stated that it would make "meaningful changes in how we operate, including streamlined decision-making, improved strategic planning and expanded partnerships".

Titles include: Schism: America, China and the Fracturing of the Global Trading System; Laid Low: Inside the Crisis That Overwhelmed Europe and the IMF;[6] Look Who’s Watching: Surveillance, Treachery and Trust Online;[7] Complexity’s Embrace: The International Law Implications of Brexit;[8] Reflections on Canada’s Past, Present and Future in International Law; Tug of War: Negotiating Security in Eurasia; and The Fabric of Peace in Africa: Looking beyond the State.

Current partnerships include the Institute for New Economic Thinking, an organization founded by George Soros in the wake of the financial crisis of 2007–2008; The Africa Portal, an online resource that seeks to broaden the availability, accessibility and use of policy research on issues critical to the future of Africa; The Balsillie School of International Affairs which is a unique three-way partnership among CIGI, Wilfrid Laurier University and the University of Waterloo; The Canada-India Track 1.5 Dialogue on Innovation, Growth and Prosperity, a three-year initiative between the Centre and Gateway House: Indian Council on Global Relations; The Forum on Information and Democracy, an international entity led by Reporters Without Borders to implement the International Partnership on Information and Democracy; and The Lancet & Financial Times Commission, Governing Health Futures 2030: Growing Up in a Digital World.

Designed by Barton Myers Associates, Inc., the Governor General Medal–winning building houses CIGI's main offices for staff and fellows, and provides a number of unique spaces for public events and workshops.