The Air Transport Association of Canada was born out of a conference of aircraft operators and manufacturers held at the Château Laurier Hotel in Ottawa on November 18, 1934. ​Forty-one delegates from industry were present, as well as nine representatives from the Government's Civil Aviation Division, which was then under the Department of National Defence, and five members of the National Research Council. The association was called the Commercial Air Transport and Manufacturers' Association of Canada. Several of our current member companies can trace their membership back to this first meeting in Ottawa.

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​At the inception of the Association and during its first three years of existence, the membership consisted of eighteen companies with equal representation from operators and manufacturers. In 1937 a permanent staff was appointed and an office was established in Ottawa.  On November 2, 1942, the name was changed to the Air Industries and Transport Association of Canada. On April 9, 1962, the manufacturing members formed their own association allowing the remaining members to focus exclusively on aircraft operators. The association was subsequently renamed the Air Transport Association of Canada to reflect this new focus, and the modern ATAC was born.