Pre-twentieth century history

On 12 March, 1764, Colonel Frederick Haldimand ordered, from Trois Rivières, the formation of a Volunteer unit to aid in the defence of Canada. In response, the 1st Company, District of Montreal Militia was raised, under the command of Captain de Montizambert; the Company was drawn from the traditional Militia of the Ancien Regime, and was predominantly French-speaking. This Company was raised in status to a Battalion in 1807, becoming the 1st Battalion, Montreal Militia under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel The Honorable James McGill, founder of McGill University. Elements of the 1st Battalion fought at the Battle of Chateauguay (26 October, 1813) under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel de Salaberry; as a result of their conduct, the 1st Battalion was awarded a pair of Colours after recommendation by the Commander-in-Chief, Sir George Prevost, to the Prince Regent.

The Select Embodied Militia ceased to function after the War of 1812, being replaced by the Sedentary, and Volunteer, Militias which provided cadres and later units during the Rebellion of 1837. Various units existed as Montreal Rifles, Loyal Montreal Volunteers and Montreal Volunteer Rifles. On 31 August, 1855, one of these units, the Montreal Rifle Rangers (which perpetuated the Montreal Rifles of the Rebellion) were, by permission of the Governor, Sir Edmund Bond Head, the first volunteers to be admitted into the Active Militia. Renamed as the 1st Volunteer Militia Rifle Company, this unit with eight other independent companies became the First Battalion, Volunteer Militia Rifles of Canada on 17 November, 1859, (after passage of the Militia Act of 1859), the first 'Volunteer Militia' battalion to be formed in the British Empire.

In 1860, the unit was raised to regimental status by HRH The Prince of Wales with the title of First or "Prince of Wales" Regiment, Volunteer Rifles of the Canadian Militia; its regimental status was unique within the Canadian Militia, highlighted through the initial Regimental motto 'Nulli Secundus' and its designation as the First Regiment. HRH The Prince of Wales became the Honorary Colonel, an appointment he continued to hold after his coronation as King Edward VII in 1902.

In addition to those directly antecedent to the First Regiment, the 6th Battalion, Volunteer Militia, was raised in 1862, later becoming the 6th Battalion Hochelaga Light Infantry and subsequently the 6th Battalion, Fusiliers. In 1898, this Battalion was amalgamated with the First Regiment to become the 1st Battalion Prince of Wales Regiment Fusiliers, which then became the 1st Regiment, Prince of Wales' Fusiliers in 1900. Lieutenant-Colonel J.H. Burland, last Commanding Officer of the Sixth Fusiliers, became the first Honorary Lieutenant- Colonel in 1904.

During the period from 1859 to 1900, both the Regiment and the Sixth Fusiliers were on active service during the Fenian Raids of 1866 and 1870, and the First Regiment was next for duty in Montreal at the time of the Northwest Rebellion in 1885, being encamped under arms for a month ready to go to the West. When the first South African contingent was formed as the 2nd (Special Service) Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment, the First Regiment contributed its quota of officers and men to 'E' Company, which contribution, along with other members serving elsewhere, earned the Honorary Distinction "South Africa 1899- 1900".

In 1911, Lieutenant-Colonel J.W. Carson (later Major General Sir William Carson) was asked to reorganize the Regiment to which he agreed on the conditions that he be given a free hand in the selection of his officers; that the Regiment should be renamed and become a Regiment of Foot Guards whilst still preserving its identity as the First Regiment of the Active Militia of Canada; and that it should be provided with an armoury of its own. The reorganization was promulgated in January, 1912, when the First Regiment became 1st Regiment, "The Grenadier Guards of Canada", and in April, 1914, took possession of the new Armoury and changed its name again to 1st Regiment Canadian Grenadier Guards. It remained the First Regiment (although junior as a Regiment of Foot Guards to the Governor General's Foot Guards, raised in 1872 as Household Troops for the Governor-General), and was seen to be the Canadian unit of Household Troops for the Sovereign.