[13] The Fraser Institute was founded in 1974 by Michael Walker, an economist from the University of Western Ontario, and businessman T. Patrick Boyle, then a vice-president of MacMillan Bloedel.

[8] According to CBC News, some people allege that Michael Walker helped set up the institute after he received financial backing from forestry giant MacMillan Bloedel, largely to counter British Columbia's NDP government, then led by premier Dave Barrett.

[16] The letter highlighted the institute's 1999 publication Passive Smoke: The EPA's Betrayal of Science and Policy,[18] "which highlighted the absence of any scientific evidence for linking cancer with second-hand smoke [and] received widespread media coverage both in Canada and the United States".

Critics charged the institute was associating itself with the tobacco industry's many attempts to discredit authentic scientific work.

[19] Research produced by the Institute has previously argued that "tobacco taxation causes smuggling",[20] a common claim by corporations in the industry that has been disputed by public health officials and critics as exaggerated and erroneous.

As of August 2023, the Board was composed of: The institute has attracted some well-known individuals to its ranks, including politicians such as former Reform Party of Canada leader Preston Manning,[30] former Progressive Conservative Ontario premier Mike Harris, and former Progressive Conservative Alberta premier Ralph Klein.

[32] The Fraser Institute describes itself as "an independent, non-partisan research and educational organization",[33] and envisions "a free and prosperous world where individuals benefit from greater choice, competitive markets, and personal responsibility".

[34] The Fraser Institute's stated mission is "to measure, study, and communicate the impact of competitive markets and government intervention on the welfare of individuals.

[5] The institute self-publishes a variety of reports: Canada's first privately funded program of its kind, Children First: School Choice Trust,[58] offers tuition assistance grants to help parents in financial need send their children to an independent school of their choice.

[61][independent source needed] The institute periodically hosts free seminars across Canada for students, teachers, and journalists, focusing on key economic concepts and timely issues in public policy.

[70] In 2012, the Vancouver Observer reported that the Fraser Institute had "received over $4.3 million in the last decade from eight major American foundations including the most powerful players in oil and pharmaceuticals".