A program in Adult Education was initiated in 1942 for the benefit of rural people struggling with shortages during the war. Study groups were organized to examine various topics which dealt with eventual reconstruction. A course in Adult Education was offered in 1945 at the University but did not gain departmental status until 1949, with the recommendation of the Manitoba Royal Commission on Adult Education. The Department of University Extension was established in 1949 with A.S.R. Tweedie as Director. In 1953, the Department absorbed the Evening Institute and began to offer credit courses along with various "short" courses.

By 1961, with the rapid increase in the number of student enrolments, the Department moved from its Broadway site to the Isbister Building on the Fort Garry campus. In the mid-1960s, the Department divided into four main operating areas: Management Studies, Professional Studies, the Evening Institute, and the Audio-Visual Division. In 1975, the Department of University Extension became the Continuing Education Division under Dean David J. Lawless and moved to the Frank Kennedy Centre where it currently resides as Extended Education. Continuing Education was organized into administrative and program departments, which included the Dean's Office, Access and Special Pre-Medical Studies, Canadian Forces University Program, Distance Education, General Studies, Language Studies Area, Management, Professional and Community Programs, Summer/Intersession, and the University of Manitoba Downtown.