Designed by architect Philip Cox and constructed in 1977 for the Pacific Conference Games, it also was the venue for the 4th IAAF World Cup in Athletics.
The main contractor was Leighton Contractors.

At the latter meet, the still-current world record for the women's 400m was recorded by East German Marita Koch, and a world record for the women's 4 × 100 m was set by East Germany and stood until the 2012 London Olympic Games.

In the late 1980s the running track was removed and re-located to the warm up stadium at the AIS site.
In the 1990 NSWRL season, the reigning NSWRL premiers the Canberra Raiders moved to Bruce Stadium from Seiffert Oval in Queanbeyan, their home ground since entering the NSWRL in 1982.
The Raiders won their second straight premiership in 1990.

The removal of the track meant that Australian rules football, more specifically the Australian Football League (AFL), could now be played at the ground.
In 1995, an AFL match for premiership points was contested between the West Coast Eagles and Fitzroy.
There were also a number of pre-season AFL games played at the venue, mostly featuring the Sydney Swans.

Also around this time, as an experiment, a cricket pitch was placed in the centre of the ground, and a day/night 1 day cricket match was played between 2 local teams before a small crowd.
Regular cricket matches on the ground did not eventuate.

Further renovations occurred in 1997 in preparation for staging soccer matches as part of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, which also in turn shrank the size of the playing field preventing any future Australian rules football games being played on the field.
The final cost of the renovations was more than seven times what was originally anticipated by the territory government of the time, and the subsequent controversy ended the career of then Chief Minister Kate Carnell.
During the lead-up, on 28 May 2000, unseasonal snow fell during a match between the Raiders and the Wests Tigers, the only such event in National Rugby League history, with the snow causing frost damage to the turf intended for the Olympic soccer tournament.

Olympic soccer in 2000 has initiated a stadium facelift converting the playing surface from oval to rectangular and bringing the crowd closer to the action.
The only downside to this revamp is the stadium can no longer host AFL games.
It is now an all-seater rectangular stadium with two main grandstands on either side of the playing field.
As a result, all top-class cricket and Australian rules football games in Canberra are now staged at the 15,000-capacity Manuka Oval.

A 2008 Rugby League World Cup game between Scotland and France was played at Canberra Stadium, the first ever rugby league test played at the venue.
France defeated Scotland 36–16.

In 2009 there was an A-League bid from Canberra that, if successful would have seen an A-League team play at the stadium starting with the 2010–11 season.
However, the league chose to award second teams to Sydney Rovers FC (which dissolved due to financial issues) and Melbourne Heart FC.

A new video screen was installed at the Southern end of the stadium in March 2020.
Designed by architect Philip Cox and constructed in 1977 for the Pacific Conference Games, it also was the venue for the 4th IAAF World Cup in Athletics. The main contractor was Leighton Contractors.
At the latter meet, the still-current world record for the women's 400m was recorded by East German Marita Koch, and a world record for the women's 4 × 100 m was set by East Germany and stood until the 2012 London Olympic Games.
In the late 1980s the running track was removed and re-located to the warm up stadium at the AIS site. In the 1990 NSWRL season, the reigning NSWRL premiers the Canberra Raiders moved to Bruce Stadium from Seiffert Oval in Queanbeyan, their home ground since entering the NSWRL in 1982. The Raiders won their second straight premiership in 1990.
The removal of the track meant that Australian rules football, more specifically the Australian Football League (AFL), could now be played at the ground. In 1995, an AFL match for premiership points was contested between the West Coast Eagles and Fitzroy. There were also a number of pre-season AFL games played at the venue, mostly featuring the Sydney Swans.
Also around this time, as an experiment, a cricket pitch was placed in the centre of the ground, and a day/night 1 day cricket match was played between 2 local teams before a small crowd. Regular cricket matches on the ground did not eventuate.
Further renovations occurred in 1997 in preparation for staging soccer matches as part of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, which also in turn shrank the size of the playing field preventing any future Australian rules football games being played on the field. The final cost of the renovations was more than seven times what was originally anticipated by the territory government of the time, and the subsequent controversy ended the career of then Chief Minister Kate Carnell. During the lead-up, on 28 May 2000, unseasonal snow fell during a match between the Raiders and the Wests Tigers, the only such event in National Rugby League history, with the snow causing frost damage to the turf intended for the Olympic soccer tournament.
Olympic soccer in 2000 has initiated a stadium facelift converting the playing surface from oval to rectangular and bringing the crowd closer to the action. The only downside to this revamp is the stadium can no longer host AFL games. It is now an all-seater rectangular stadium with two main grandstands on either side of the playing field. As a result, all top-class cricket and Australian rules football games in Canberra are now staged at the 15,000-capacity Manuka Oval.
A 2008 Rugby League World Cup game between Scotland and France was played at Canberra Stadium, the first ever rugby league test played at the venue. France defeated Scotland 36–16.
In 2009 there was an A-League bid from Canberra that, if successful would have seen an A-League team play at the stadium starting with the 2010–11 season. However, the league chose to award second teams to Sydney Rovers FC (which dissolved due to financial issues) and Melbourne Heart FC.
A new video screen was installed at the Southern end of the stadium in March 2020.
Canberra Stadium