Established in 1986 by Employment and Immigration Canada (now named Human Resources Development Canada), Community Futures has been responsible for establishing 90 Community Futures offices throughout rural Western Canada, including 27 offices in Alberta.

In 1995, responsibility for Community Futures was transferred to Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD).

Today, with core funding assistance provided by WD, the Community Futures in western Canada are actively engaged in a wide array of community economic development (CED) activities in their respective regions. Given the importance of small business to Canada's changing economy, one of the primary focuses of the Community Futures offices is to foster entrepreneurial development by providing both financial and technical support to new and existing small businesses.