In an effort to bring more cohesion to the College's performing arts division, Dean of Academic Studies Bradley Webb, along with the artistic leadership of veteran actor and director Joseph Shaw, founded the George Brown Theatre School in 1976.

The school began classes in September 1976 as a two-year, 20-student program housed at the College's Kensington Campus with a focus on both theatre performance and production.

[6] It moved and expanded in the following year with the acquisition of a performance space at 530 King Street East[7] while training continued at the College's Casa Loma campus.

[11] During this time, the school expanded its training by launching the one-year Introduction to Performing Arts Careers (IPAC) program.

[8] In January 2018, the Toronto Star, CBC, and the Dialog published articles describing bullying, discrimination, harassment, and abuse perpetrated by a George Brown Theatre School faculty member against students.

In 2017, additional reports cited acting professor Todd Hammond as the primary perpetrator of abuse, resulting in his leave of absence.

[18][19] The school has since undergone several changes in response to the publications, namely the hiring of new acting professors, changes in faculty, and the succession of Sue Miner as Program Coordinator after James Simon.

[20] The partnership of the George Brown Theatre School and Soulpepper immediately began negotiations with the Cityscape Development group to take possession of Tank Houses 9 and 10, creating what became the Young Centre for the Performing Arts.

The Marilyn and Charles Baillie Theatre, the largest of the three, is a flexible space that seats up to 378 patrons[24] and is host to the second-year children's show.

Its primary curriculum is built on a classical approach to acting through voice, movement, speech, dance, and music classes,[31] which students are required to take throughout the entire three-year advanced diploma program.

[2] This program is designed for students wishing to obtain basic skills needed to enter into theatre schools or the entertainment business.