The Mail was established by Conservatives in 1872 (at the insistence of Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first Prime Minister), to compete with the Reform politics of Brown's Globe. In 1962, "Report on Business" becames a daily section, and the Globe and Mail became Canada's first national daily business newspaper. The Globe and Mail is now a division of Thomson Canada Ltd.

The Globe and Mail is known for its coverage of national and international news. It was the first North American newspaper with a resident correspondent in China, and the first Canadian newspaper to have permanent news bureaus in Africa and Latin America. In 1979 the Globe and Mail became the first ever newspaper to publish electronically and in print on the same day, with a full-text commercial database. The Globe and Mail's web site (www.globeandmail.ca) went on-line in December of 1995. In 1980, it was Canada's first newspaper to use satellites to transmit information. In 1995 and 1996 The Globe and Mail was deemed "World's Best Designed Newspaper" by the Society of Newspaper Design, and in July of 1998 the newspaper underwent a redesign: Colour and a new typeface are now being used. The newspaper's motto is "The subject who is truly loyal to the Chief Magistrate will neither advise nor submit to arbitrary measures", a quote of Junius, an 18th century English writer. The newspaper believes that "only an informed public can defend itself against power seekers who threaten its freedoms"