It was founded in 1946 when three earlier unions merged to form the Corporation générale des instituteurs et institutrices catholiques de la province de Québec (CIC; General Corporation of Catholic Teachers in the Province of Quebec).

It changed its name in 1967 to Corporation des enseignants du Québec (Quebec teachers corporation), and then again in 1974 when it officially became a labour union to Centrale des enseignants du Québec (CEQ; Quebec teachers labour congress).

It finally became the Centrale des syndicats du Québec in 2000 to acknowledge the fact that its membership base had expanded beyond teaching profession.

The CEQ was the first Quebec trade union to appoint a woman (Lorraine Pagé) as its president, in 1988.

Centrale des syndicats du Québec currently acts as a liaison for the J. W. McConnell Family Foundation as well.