It was inspired by the American label Simple Machines and was run by Walter Forsyth, Lee Ann Gillan, Shawn Duggan, Colin MacKenzie, Robert Jeans and Miroslav Wiesner.

[1] Born out of an influx of local alternative music being created in Halifax during the early 1990s, Cinnamon Toast Records released a number of limited 7-inch singles, each in a different colour.

Other notable releases are the first Jale single and a split pressing of Sloan and Eric's Trip in 1993, a Rebecca West CD in 1995, as well as a number of full length Plumtree CDs.

[8] Capitalizing on the anticipation of the 1994 Halifax Pop Explosion, which had gained national recognition, allowed for the label to promote these local bands to a much wider, even global audience.

During the Halifax Pop Explosion music festival, the label held an annual brunch of cinnamon toast which accompanied shows at local cafes and venues.

In the Much Music Canada coverage of Halifax Pop Explosion 1994, operators of the label can be seen serving plates of toast to the audience of the band Rebecca West at the restaurant Cafe Mokka.

[6] In addition to food and music the Cinnamon Toast Records' brunch featured the only act of protest against the 1995 Halifax Pop Explosion festival's sponsor, the Export A tobacco company.

Much of the Cinnamon Toast Records promotional ephemera such as stickers and leaflets, posters and CD inserts featured personal language uncommon among larger labels.

Notable releases of the label include: After forming a relationship during their studies at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University, Jale “...discovered they could all sing in key and harmonize, divided up who would play what, and Jale (an acronym of their first names) was born.”[10] No member of the band had any previous musical experience except Jennifer, who sang on “Smeared”, the DGC record label debut by fellow Halifax band Sloan.

[11] Quahogs guitarist Todd Calder describes the project: “We saved the money we made from playing shows (mostly at the Double Deuce) and decided to record some songs.

Colin Mackenzie, a founder of Cinnamon Toast recalls “The folks at Cargo records in the UK went nuts for it (and) ordered all sorts and we were stuck stuffing seven-inch singles late into the night…many, many nights.”[11] Sloan frontman Chris Murphy describes the project as “...a benefit for CKDU in Halifax.

[12] With the addition of Nina Martin[13] on bass, the band quickly developed a highly collaborative songwriting method which combined catchy melodies, a serious approach to writing music and solid instrumentation.