Construction of Confederation Centre, as it is commonly referred to, started in 1960 and Queen Elizabeth II officially opened it to the public on October 6, 1964.

[1] The institution was originally built with funding by the ten provincial governments in Canada and the federal government as Canada's National Memorial to the Fathers of Confederation, who met in Charlottetown in September 1864 at what was called the Charlottetown Conference.

[4] In 2011 the mainstage Homburg Theatre underwent a $17-million renovation to improve acoustics, seating, lighting, and rigging.

The centre is one contiguous structure, however at street level it appears as three separate buildings (hosting a theatre and art gallery) clustered around "Memorial Hall" which faces east toward Province House.

The art gallery pavilion is housed in a three-storey structure, that includes over 3,250 square metres (35,000 sq ft) of exhibition space.