The CMC began as a group of young conservatoire students and graduates based primarily in Toronto. The original aim of the ensemble was to help aspiring professional musicians bridge the gap between student and professional life, and to provide an artistically fulfilling experience for those involved. Following early performances of the ensemble, it became clear that the ensemble had enormous potential.

The support lent to the Classical Music Consort by various pharmaceutical companies, as well as by the strength of ticket sales, has facilitated the ensemble's professionalisation, and its incorporation as a not-for-profit, charitable organisation. This status was conferred on the Classical Music Consort in January 2008.

Since its inception in 2006, the CMC has concentrated on works by Haydn, Mozart, and Beethoven. In its first four concerts, the ensemble has performed two of Haydn's London Symphonies (nos. 95 and 97), the last three symphonies by Mozart, as well as Beethoven's first symphony. It has also performed Prokofiev's Classical Symphony, and other works by Handel and W. F. Bach. In August of 2007, Flute Soloist Emma Elkinson performed alongside the Classical Music Consort in Vivaldi's g minor flute concerto (RV 437).

The 2007-2008 season has seen the CMC in its first full season of concerts, based in the chapel of Trinity College at the University of Toronto. In the CMC's final concert of the season, to take place on 30 March 2008, the versatile Polish violinist Anna Banaszkiewicz will perform Vaughan Williams' The Lark Ascending in her Toronto debut, rounding out a concert entitled "English Music for Chamber Orchestra", which will also include works by Benjamin Britten and Sir Michael Tippett, as well as the world premiere of Concerto Grosso, the work of young English composer Neil Luck.