[1] The National Club was created to provide a home and Toronto focus for Canada First, a nationalist movement founded in 1868 by George Denison, Henry Morgan, Charles Mair, William Foster and Robert Grant Haliburton.

Canada First sought to “promote a sense of national purpose and to lay the intellectual foundations for Canadian nationality.” On March 30, 1875, the National Club moved into rented premises on the west side of Bay Street, immediately south of the building that housed the original Toronto Stock Exchange.

In 1903, $50,000 of a total estimated construction cost of $90,000 was raised by subscription among National Club members to purchase a lot and build a new clubhouse at 303 Bay Street.

[9] The firm of Sproatt & Rolph was responsible for designing a number of other Toronto landmarks, including Hart House (University of Toronto), the Canada Life Building, the Fairmont Royal York Hotel, Bishop Strachan School, Eaton's College Street store, and the Canada Permanent Trust building across the street from the National Club.

The red brick, four-storey Georgian building has undergone several periods of extensive internal renovation in its history to maintain both the cosmetic and mechanical aspects of the facilities.

Stained glass windows in the Main Dining Room depicting the arms of Canada and the provinces were created by the Toronto company of Pringle & London, which worked with Tiffany & Co. and also installed many of the Toronto church and cathedral stained glass windows in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

The National Club is connected to the Toronto PATH system of concourses and tunnels through an unmarked door leading to the lower level of the Scotia Plaza.