The offices of the Consulate General of Barbados at Toronto were officially opened on Thursday December 10, 1981, by the then Attorney General and Minister of External Affairs, Honourable Louis Tull. Barbados appointed Mr. Randolph Field as the first Consul General to Toronto.

The Consulate pursues its mandate in collaboration with the Barbados High Commission in Ottawa and a network of five Honorary Consuls located in Montreal, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Calgary and Edmonton who assist on a volunteer basis.

In April 2016 the Consulate was relocated to its current location 110 Sheppard Avenue East North York Toronto where it serves a diaspora of approximately 100, 000 persons in its jurisdiction of Ontario, Manitoba, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

It also shares offices and collaborates with its sister Barbados government agencies –  Barbados Tourism Management Inc; Barbados Liaison Services (established in 1967) and until recently Invest Barbados.

As an institution the Consulate operates within the framework of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), an international treaty that provides a frame of reference for consular relations between sovereign states. The VCCR essentially codifies many consular practices that originated from state custom and various bilateral agreements between states.

The Convention defines and articulates the functions, rights, and immunities accorded to consular officers and their offices, as well as the rights and duties of “receiving States” (where the consul is based) and “sending States” (the state the consul represents). It was adopted in 1963, and in force since 1967, the treaty has been ratified by 182 states.

The Consulate is headed by a Consul General who, as the Head of Mission, manages the operations of the office. There is also post of Consul which is always held by career foreign service officers and carries with it the dual responsibility of Authorised Representative with responsibility for overseeing the financial affairs of the Consulate.

Two recent additions to the structure of the Barbados Consulate are the establishment of the posts of Vice Consul General and Diaspora Affairs Officer. These new posts reflect the growing emphasis being placed on mobilizing and empowering the Barbadian diaspora to participate in national development.

Formal institutional relations between Barbados and Canada can be traced back to 1907 when the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service established an office in Barbados, which laid the foundation for the close trade partnership that Barbados and Canada have today.

Following Barbados independence from the United Kingdom in November 1966, The Office of the Barbados High Commission was established in June 1967. It is located at Ottawa and focuses mainly on managing bilateral relations between Barbados and Canada as well as CARICOM and Canada.

The Canadian High Commission was established in Bridgetown, Barbados on 27 September 1973.