The idea of Independent Living emerged in Berkeley, California among a group of students with disabilities who wanted to live independently, rather than in an institutional setting. It is an idea that gained a foothold across California, and by the late1970s had spread across the United States. Around the same time, Canadians with disabilities began to learn about Independent Living, and the IL movement. Especially important for the development of Independent Living in Canada in the late-1970s and early 1980s was the active involvement of the Coalition of Provincial Organizations of the Handicapped (now known as the Council of Canadians with Disabilities).

In 1981, three events were central to the development of IL: (1) the United Nations declaration of the International Year of Disabled Persons; (2) the release of the Canadian government's Obstacles report; and (3) the personal commitment of Henry Enns and other disability leaders to the IL philosophy. Each of these autonomous developments provided legitimacy to disability issues at the national level and, equally important, ensured the promotion of Independent Living to a cross section of government officials, organizations, academics, and concerned individuals.

By 1985, through the assistance of a number of organizations such as the Mennonite Central Committee, five Independent Living  Centers (IL centers) were operating (or in the development stages) in cities across Canada: Waterloo, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Calgary and Toronto. In May of 1986, at the first IL conference in Ottawa, Independent Living Canada (ILC) was formed to act as a national co-ordinating body for the IL Movement and a formal definition of a Canadian IL Center was developed. This Canadian definition is important because while Independent Living emerged in the United States, the Canadian movement is distinct. This new definition formalized the differences between the Canadian and U.S. movements.

In November 1988, an official pilot funding partnership between ILC, the then Department of National Health and Welfare and the then Secretary of State was announced. This five-year funding partnership known as the Special Initiative allowed for the development of a national infrastructure of community-based disability resource centers, offering programs and services to Canadians with disabilities. Although the Initiative expired in 1996, the federal governments commitment to Independent Living has continued. Currently, the IL network receives federal funding through the Social Development Partnerships program (created in 1998) in the Department of Human Resources Development Canada. We work collaboratively with the Government of Canada to support the independence and inclusion of people with disabilities in Canadian society.

There are 27 ILCenter's  located in communities across Canada - in rural and urban areas and in English and French Canada.