The current Campus Saint-Jean evolved from a series of institutional forms.

It was first founded by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate as the Juniorat Saint-Jean, as a juniorate or Catholic school for boys considering the priesthood, in 1908 in Pincher Creek in Southern Alberta.

In 1963 the Collège switched its affiliation to the University of Alberta, becoming part of the Faculty of Arts in 1966.

In September 2005 the name was changed once again to Campus Saint-Jean in order to better represent the expansion it had undergone.

In 2020 the Association canadienne-française de l'Alberta filed a lawsuit against the university and the Government of Alberta alleging "chronic under-funding" that violated the terms of the 1976 sale agreement.