Congrégation de Notre-Dame National Historic Event
© Library and Archives Canada / PA-031171
Congrégation de Notre-Dame was designated as a national historic event in 1988.
The Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada reviewed this designation in 2023.
Reasons for designation
The Congrégation de Notre-Dame was founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys in the years after she arrived in Ville-Marie (today Montréal) in 1653. It was one of the most important teaching communities in Canada, with hundreds of schools across three different regions of the country, including some of the earliest educational institutions in Montréal, such as the École d’enseignement supérieur pour les filles (1908), which was affiliated with l’Université Laval. The congregation’s activities in English-language higher education include work at Mount Saint Bernard College, Nova Scotia, which in 1897 became the first Catholic college in Canada to issue post-secondary degrees to women.
Review of designation
Reviews are undertaken on an ongoing basis to ensure that designations reflect current scholarship, shifts in historical understandings, and a range of voices, perspectives and experiences in Canadian society.
In 2023, this designation was reviewed to understand the congregation’s connection to the residential school system. The Congrégation de Notre-Dame was found not to have operated or administered any residential schools that were part of Indian Residential Schools Settlement Agreement.
Reasons for designations were developed that outline the national historic significance of the congregation. No plaque for this designation has been installed to date. A plaque will be prepared as time and resources permit.
Source: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Minutes, June 2022.
The National Program of Historical Commemoration relies on the participation of Canadians in the identification of places, events and persons of national historic significance. Any member of the public can nominate a topic for consideration by the Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada.
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