Montreal's École des Hautes Études Commerciales is Canada's first management school and was founded in 1907 by the Chambre de commerce de Montréal. HEC Montréal, as it is also known, is affiliated with the University of Montreal and is considered to be one of the country's top business schools.

It is often referred to by its acronym HEC. There are those who say that HEC also means "Highly Educated Crooks" and this rendition of the acronym has been seen in the student newspaper over the years.

In a more serious vain, HEC has been turning out managers for 93 years and was the first business school in Canada to offer evening classes for adults, in 1917. In the last three decades it has undertaken several research programmes, in addition to training its students in the craft of administration.

The language of instruction at HEC is French (although some courses are offered in English and Spanish) and the business culture is North American.