Our history
The roots of Vanier College date back to 1847, when members of Basile Moreau's Order of Sainte-Croix were sent from France to Canada to create educational institutions for girls and for boys. Vanier began as a school for young girls run by the Sisters of Sainte-Croix. Over the decades that followed, this school would expand into two distinct and well-respected private institutions: Pensionnat Notre-Dame-des-Anges (Convent of Our Lady of Angels) and Collège Basile-Moreau.
Learn about the institution's centuries' long evolution, dive into the history of each building or browse archival images and documents.
Chronology
1847
A group of Sisters opened their first school, called Maison Sainte-Marie. They used a small house originally built by Sulpician priests in the 1720s. This building was located on the present-day site of the E building.
1897
The Sisters occupied more space and shaped the lives of hundreds of young Catholic girls from Montreal and the United States. Renamed Pensionnat Notre-Dame-des-Anges, their school included what we now call the C building (left), the center chapel (F building), and the School of Continuing Education or E building (right). Room and board were offered to those pupils who came from far away.
1926
By this time, the school had expanded even more, with the addition of what we call the B building (left). The original structure of the first school (right) had been renovated and completely transformed. The sisters maintained a farm for growing food which included a chicken house and a dairy operation.
1933
The Sisters of Sainte-Croix created a second academic institution called Collège Basile-Moreau. This school taught the equivalent of what we refer to as high school today. Asides from educating future lawyers, politicians and scientists, Collège Basile-Moreau was renowned for its top-notch music program.
1955
Nearly over a century since their arrival, the Sisters of Sainte-Croix occupied most of the modern-day site of the Vanier campus. We can see the addition of what we call the A building today (left).
1970
Here's an aerial view of the campus taken prior to the inception of Vanier College in 1970, when the Government of Québec secularised education across the province. Note the newer and larger chapel in the center, as well as the absence of the modern-day Sports Complex on the left side and the N building on the far right.
2020s
The front of our campus as it appears today. From left to right are the B, C and F buildings.
Campus evolution by building
A building
B,C buildings
D building
E building
F building
G building
H building
N building
Hidden bell
Archival photos and documents
Credits and contact
The content presented here was originally researched and curated by Matthieu Sossoyan and Denis Lafontaine.
Matthieu began teaching at Vanier College in 1999. He studied in the Anthropology Department at Université de Montréal and McGill University. His research into Vanier's history grew out of his personal interest in archeology, as well as in the local history of Saint-Laurent.
Denis worked as media specialist in the IT Department for over 30 years until 2016. He won two Outstanding Contribution Awards in 2008 and in 2015. He was also the winner of the 2010-2011 Above and Beyond the Call of Duty Vanier Employee Recognition Award.