Born near Lévis, Demers was trained at the Seminary of Quebec, ordained in 1836 and sent in 1838 as a missionary to the Columbia. His ministry extended from the interior of British Columbia to Oregon. First pastor of St. John's Church of Oregon City, he was appointed in 1846 first Bishop of Vancouver Island with responsibility for New Caledonia and the Queen Charlotte Islands. In the following decades Bishop Demers oversaw the transition of his diocese from the fur trade era to that of a settled colony. By the time of his death in Victoria, the territory in which he had laboured was Canada's sixth province. *Note: This designation has been identified for review. A review can be triggered for one of the following reasons - outdated language or terminology, absence of a significant layer of history, factual errors, controversial beliefs and behaviour, or significant new knowledge.