In 1903 John MacPherson, Arthur Moore, and J.W. Cunningham founded The Edmonton Evening Journal in Edmonton, Alberta. Shortly into its run, The Journal acquired the Edmonton Post, a semi-weekly newspaper, and resultantly, the Edmonton Journal grew from four pages to six. First Street and 101A Avenue first housed The Journal headquarters but the office moved in 1905 to a leased space in a one-story building on the corner of 102 Avenue and 101 Street, former site of the Tegler Building; in 1921 The Journal moved to its present location at 101st Street and 100th Avenue.

In 1909 Macpherson, Moore, and Cunningham sold The Journal to John P. McConnell of Vancouver, British Columbia, who in turn sold it to J.H. Woods of Calgary, Alberta. Woods hired Milton Robbins Jennings to manage and edit the paper. In 1912, the Southam family bought The Journal for $500,000.00. In the same year, Jennings hired A. Balmer Watt, editor and owner of the Edmonton Capital to serve as associate editor, and throughout the editorial pages, Watt and Balmer championed women's rights. In 1921, John Mills Imrie became managing director and appointed Watt editor-in-chief.

In 1921, The Journal erected a 23-metre radio tower above the Edmonton Journal building; on May 1, 1922 the newspaper launched CJCA, Alberta's first radio station. The Journal also won the first Pulitzer Prize awarded outside the United States on May 2, 1938 for its campaign against government attempts to control publishing. That year, the Social Credit government attempted to pass the Accurate News and Information Act, which stipulated that when a newspaper criticized the government or printed material criticizing government, each newspaper in the province would be compelled to print the government's rebuttal, if a government official demanded such a publication.

In 1948, The Journal's printers went on strike, and The Edmonton Journal and Edmonton Bulletin -- The Journal's competition -- issued joint publications until January 2, 1948. The Edmonton Bulletin ceased publishing on January 20, 1951 and until the Edmonton Sun appeared on April 2, 1978, The Journal remained Edmonton's only newspaper.

In 1980 The Journal opened its Eastgate production plant equipped with newspaper offset presses capable of producing colour ads and photographs. On September 2 of the same year The Journal added a morning edition, and on April 8, 1985 The Journal ended its nightly edition. In 1988 construction began on a new office complex and the building officially opened on September 3, 1991.