Prior to the 1999 season, the Vancouver Canadians Pacific Coast League franchise was purchased by a group led by Art Savage with the intention of relocating to Sacramento, California.

[3] Despite winning the Pacific Coast League title and the Triple-A World Series the Canadians moved to California's capital city.

Like the predecessor Pacific Coast League franchise, the new Canadians signed a player development contract with the Oakland Athletics.

The Canadians had players such as Nick Swisher, Jeremy Brown, Jason Windsor, Joe Blanton, Rich Harden, Travis Buck, Dallas Braden, and Dan Straily on teams during this period.

Extensive work began that offseason in a full-scale stadium renovation which improved washrooms, concessions, concourses, and children's play area.

In September 2011, the Vancouver Canadians won their first Northwest League championship title, defeating the Tri-City Dust Devils, 9–2, to win the final series, 2–1.

The following year, the Vancouver Canadians became back-to-back champions for the first time in franchise history, defeating the Boise Hawks, 12–9, to win the final series, 2–1.

[6] The 2013 season also saw the Vancouver Canadians draw over 195,000 fans to Scotiabank Field, a fifth consecutive team record which included 23 sold-out games.

[8] This earned them the 2016 Esurance "Home Field Advantage Award" given to the organization in each affiliated minor league with the greatest attendance per percentage capacity.

In the winter of 2020 as part the reorganization of minor league baseball, Vancouver received an invitation to continue as the Blue Jays' High-A affiliate.

The Canadians play their home games at Nat Bailey Stadium which had hosted previous minor league teams.