In January 1989, the first edition of Les Jeux du commerce was held. The goal was to create an informal and durable bond between the participants, to better the communication between the universities and the enterprises and encourage initiative, competition, the evolution of ideas and to develop excellence.

In the beginning, the games were limited to 6 academic activities, 4 athletic events and 2 social. As well, only 8 universities were involved which totaled nearly 600 students. All the participants were lodged in the school gyms or sport center of the hosting university.

As the years passed, the desire to win the highest honors of Les Jeux intensified. Each year, the Patrice Bourbonnais Prize (founder of Les Jeux) is given to the university which accumulated the most points.

Today, Les Jeux du commerce aims to promote socializing between the students, their schools and the business world. This event now unites over 1200 business undergraduate students from the following universities:

• Université du Québec à Chicoutimi
• Université du Québec en Outaouais
• Université du Québec à Rimouski
• Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières
• Université du Québec à Montréal
• Université du Québec en Abitibi-Témiscamingue
• L'École de Gestion Telfer de l'Université d'Ottawa
• Université de Moncton
• Université de Sherbrooke
• Concordia University
• McGill University
• L'École des Hautes Études Commerciales
• Université Laval

This year, the 22th edition of les Jeux du Commerce will be held at the John Molson School of Business in Montreal , from January 8th to 11th 2010.