Baptist work in Western Canada was established in 1873 in Winnipeg by the Rev. Alexander McDonald, who had been commissioned by the Baptists of Ontario to establish a work in the western part of the country. In 1875, First Baptist Church was established in Winnipeg. In the following year, First Baptist Church of Victoria was established through the efforts of Alexander Clyde, a layman, formerly from Stratford, Ontario. From these two beginnings Baptist work developed across the four western provinces.

In 1907, the Baptist Convention of Western Canada was formed but, due to legal technicalities, the name was changed to the Baptist Union of Western Canada two years later. Today the Baptist Union of Western Canada has 168 churches with approximately 21,000 members. The denomination has 24 churches in Manitoba.