Université Laval is a

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, Canada. The university was founded by

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

issued by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

in 1852, with roots in the founding of the

Séminaire de Québec The Seminary of Quebec (French: Séminaire de Québec) is a Catholic community of diocesan priests in Quebec City founded by Bishop François de Laval, the first bishop of New France in 1663. History The Séminaire de Québec is a Society of ...

in 1663 by François de Montmorency-Laval, making it the oldest centre of higher education in Canada and the first North American institution to offer higher education in French. The university, which was founded in Old Québec, moved to a new campus in the 1950s in the suburban borough of

Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge is a borough of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The borough was created on November 1, 2009,

History

François de Laval - Project Gutenberg eText 17174

The university's beginnings go back to 1663 with the founding of the Grand

and 1668 with the founding of the Petit Séminaire by François de Montmorency-Laval, a member of the House of Laval and the first

Bishop of New France The Archdiocese of Québec ( la, Archidiœcesis Quebecensis; french: Archidiocèse de Québec) is a Catholic archdiocese in Quebec, Canada. Being the first see in the New World north of Mexico, the Archdiocese of Québec is also the primatial se ...

. During the French Regime the institution mainly trained priests to serve in

New France New France (french: Nouvelle-France) was the area colonized by France in North America, beginning with the exploration of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence by Jacques Cartier in 1534 and ending with the cession of New France to Great Britain and Spa ...

. After the Conquest of 1760, the British expanded education in Canada to include the liberal arts. French Canadians had at the time no opportunity to pursue higher education, and Bishop Bourget of Montreal suggested expanding the Séminaire de Québec into Université Laval. Louis Casault, a priest who taught physics at the Séminaire de Québec, went to Europe to seek a royal charter and study the best university systems there. The Séminaire de Québec was granted a royal charter on December 8, 1852, by

, at the request of

Lord Elgin Earl of Elgin is a title in the Peerage of Scotland, created in 1633 for Thomas Bruce, 3rd Lord Kinloss. He was later created Baron Bruce, of Whorlton in the County of York, in the Peerage of England on 30 July 1641. The Earl of Elgin is the h ...

(Governor-General of the Province of Canada), creating Université Laval with "the rights and privileges of a university".Laval University/Université Laval
The charter was signed in 1852.

Pope Benedict XV Pope Benedict XV (Ecclesiastical Latin, Latin: ''Benedictus XV''; it, Benedetto XV), born Giacomo Paolo Giovanni Battista della Chiesa, name=, group= (; 21 November 185422 January 1922), was head of the Catholic Church from 1914 until his deat ...

approved the plan and authorized the institution to establish chairs of theology and confer degrees. In 1878, the university opened a second campus in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple- ...

, which became the

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte- ...

on May 8, 1919, by a writ of

. In 1971, a second charter transferred all authority to the Université Laval council. By 1925, the university had outgrown its location. The Old City was very crowded, making it difficult to add new buildings to the campus. The university moved to Sainte-Foy in the 1950s, which at the time was a semi-rural community west of the Quebec city centre. The School of Architecture returned to the old building (now affectionately referred to as ''Le Vieux Séminaire'') in 1989. Université Laval is governed by a board of governors and a faculty senate. This structure was modelled on the provincial

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Act of 1906, which established a bicameral system of university government consisting of a senate (faculty), responsible for academic policy, and a board of governors (citizens) exercising exclusive control over financial policy and having formal authority in all other matters. The president, appointed by the board, was to serve as a link between the two bodies and lead the institution. In the early part of the 20th century, the need for higher education expanded beyond the classical fields of theology, law and medicine, and the university introduced science and social-science departments such as forestry and household science. In addition, graduate training based on the German-inspired American model of specialized course work and the completion of a research thesis was introduced. "Laval", a waltz by French-Canadian ragtime composer,

Wilfrid Beaudry Wilfrid Edouard Beaudry (1891-19??) was a French-Canadian composer of two-steps and waltzes from the ragtime era. He was born and lived in Quebec. His published works includePublic-domain images of covers of sheet music by Wilfred Beaudry aRa ...

, was dedicated to the students at Laval University and the University of Montreal. The music for piano was published in Quebec by J. Beaudry, circa 1906. In 1929, the Quebec Seminary was designated as a national historic site of Canada. The university opened its department of social, political, and economic sciences in 1938, signalling a change of approach that continued into the 1960s, based on an idea of higher education as the key to social justice and economic productivity for individuals and society. The royal charter that founded Université Laval in 1852 was designated a National Historic Event in 1972. This location, at 1 Rempart Street, Quebec, still continues operation as a centre for educating Roman Catholic priests. A section of the Vieux Séminaire has been the location for the Université's school of architecture since 1987. The Camille-Roy pavilion houses the restored Promotions Room which can be rented as a venue for various types of events. In 2017, the university became the first in Canada to divest its endowment from fossil fuel-related companies.

Buildings and features

After it was granted a university charter, several buildings were built in Old Quebec, including the School of Chemistry (1923), the addition on Ste. Famille Street (1931), the Mining School (1938), and the cafeteria building (1945), all by architect Joseph Simeon Bergeron. However, the neighbourhood was already crowded and activities later moved in nearby Sainte-Foy, which was more spacious.

Campus building

Today's campus covers and has over 30 buildings (also called ''pavillons''), including many iconic exemplars of

modern architecture Modern architecture, or modernist architecture, was an architectural movement or architectural style based upon new and innovative technologies of construction, particularly the use of glass, steel, and reinforced concrete; the idea that for ...

. Its earliest buildings and landscapes were designed by Edouard Fiset ( fr) from the 1950s, and of its lands, 56 percent are wooded areas, grasslands, and sports fields . Pavillon Ferdinand Vandry.jpg, Ferdinand Vandry Pavilion, hosting health sciences faculties Pavillon Adrien-Pouliot.jpg, ''L'Homme devant la Science'' (1963), mural by

Jordi Bonet Jordi Bonet i Godó, known professionally as Jordi Bonet (7 May 1932 – 25 December 1979), was a Spanish-born Canadian painter, ceramist, muralist, and sculptor who worked principally in Quebec. Life and work Born in Barcelona, Spain of Cata ...

on Adrien-Pouliot Hall Bibliothequeulaval.jpg, Social science library building Pavillon Palasis-Prince - Université -Laval - Quebec City - October 2007.jpg, Palasis-Prince building (administrative sciences) Pavillon Charles-De Koninck 2016.jpg, Pavillon Charles-De Koninck (social sciences and law) Abitibiprice.jpg, Abitibi-Price building (forestry, geography and geomatics) Pavillon Gene-H.-Kruger.jpg, Gene-H.-Kruger building (wood research) Pavillons FAS et SDE.JPG, ''Félix-Antoine-Savard'' and educational sciences buildings ULaval campus.jpg, Western end of the campus

Other infrastructure

Practically all buildings are linked by of underground walkways, which are particularly useful in the winter and whose walls are mostly covered by murals painted by student associations and student visitors over the years, as well as graffiti. The campus is also home to the ''Roger-Van den Hende'' botanical garden ( fr) which contains some 67 species of deciduous and coniferous trees and 60 different species of birds. The Louis-Jacques-Casault building also hosts the regional branch of the National Archives of Quebec. The sport building is called

PEPS The ("Laval University Sports and Physical Education Complex"), usually called PEPS for short, is a sports complex located in Quebec City, Quebec, on the Université Laval campus. PEPS opened in 1970 and includes an outdoor stadium, an indoor ...

and is said to be the largest sport complex in eastern Canada. It is adjacent to the covered TELUS stadium. Construction for the Telus stadium started in 2010 and was opened to the public in January 2012 ( fr). Tunnel ULaval Peps.jpg, Pedestrian tunnel VandenHende WG.jpg, Water Garden at ''Roger-Van den Hende'' botanical garden Pavillon Louis-Jacques-Casault 1.jpg, A branch of the National Archives is found in Pavillon Casault Laval University PEPS 03.jpg, Olympic swimming pool inside the PEPS complex Telus Stadium, Laval University.jpg, TELUS stadium

Off campus

Apart from the school of architecture, located in

Old Quebec Old Quebec (french: Vieux-Québec) is a historic neighbourhood of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Comprising the Upper Town (french: Haute-Ville) and Lower Town (french: Basse-Ville), the area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Administratively, O ...

since 1988, the only out of campus facilities are the school of visual arts in the downtown neighbourhood of Saint-Roch's, and the experimental Montmorency forest ( fr) ( north of Quebec City). Foret Montmorency - 055.jpg, A facility of the experimental forest École architecture ULaval.JPG, The school of architecture La Fabrique - 01.jpg, ''La Fabrique'' building hosts the school of art

Programs

As of 2002, Université Laval offered over 350 programs to more than 38,000 students. The university also attracts more than 2,500 foreign students annually, and has almost 1,000 students drawn from Canadian provinces outside of Quebec. Many students come to the university for the ''Français pour non-francophones'' program that offers instruction in French as a second language to students from Canada and around the world. It is also the only university in Quebec which trains forestry engineers. Since the mid-1980s, Université Laval has offered distance learning; over 30 programs and 400 courses are offered by distance learning, of which 80% are accessible from the internet.

Faculties and schools

Research

Université Laval holds four of the 19 Canada Excellence Research Chairs awarded nationwide: Canada Excellence Research Chair in Remote Sensing of Canada's New Arctic Frontier, Canada Research Excellence Chair in the Microbiome-Endocannabinoidome Axis in Metabolic Health, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Photonic Innovations, and Communication and Canada Excellence Research Chair in Neurophotonics. The university has also received research funding from

Huawei Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various sma ...

but has kept the details of the funding confidential.

University press

Les Presses de l'Université Laval (University Press), which was founded in 1950, deals with Canadian civilization, literature, medieval studies, law, social sciences, physical sciences and engineering. It publishes some 120 books per year.

University cooperative

The Coopérative de l'Université Laval (University Co-op) is engaged in the sale of products to customers throughout the university, such as books, lecture notes and computers.

Athletics and sports teams

Athletics take place at the Pavillon d'éducation physique et des sports (Physical Education and Sports Complex), in short

. Laval's varsity sports teams are named the Rouge-et-Or (Red & Gold). As of 2020, the men's football team of Laval have won 10 Vanier Cups and has thus the most titles in the country, followed by the Western Mustangs (8 Vanier Cups).

Notable people

Public figures, including Prime Ministers of Canada, Premiers of Quebec, Supreme Court Justices, federal Cabinet Ministers, Senators, and Lieutenant-Governors as well as national and international athletes have graduated from l'Université Laval. Some of the more prominent are: * Prime Ministers of Canada: Louis St. Laurent, Brian Mulroney and Jean Chrétien *

Premiers of Quebec This is a list of the premiers of the province of Quebec since Canadian Confederation in 1867. Quebec uses a unicameral (originally bicameral) Westminster-style parliamentary government, in which the premier is the leader of the party that ...

Lucien Bouchard Lucien Bouchard (; born December 22, 1938) is a Canadian lawyer, diplomat and retired politician. Minister for two years in the Mulroney cabinet, Bouchard then led the emerging Bloc Québécois and became Leader of the Opposition in the Ho ...

, Pierre-Joseph-Olivier Chauveau, Edmund James Flynn,

Jean Lesage Jean Lesage (; 10 June 1912 – 12 December 1980) was a Canadian lawyer and politician from Quebec. He served as the 19th premier of Quebec from 22 June 1960 to 16 June 1966. Alongside Georges-Émile Lapalme, René Lévesque and others, he is o ...

René Lévesque René Lévesque (; August 24, 1922 – November 1, 1987) was a Québécois politician and journalist who served as the 23rd premier of Quebec from 1976 to 1985. He was the first Québécois political leader since Confederation to attemp ...

Pauline Marois Pauline Marois (; born March 29, 1949) is a retired Canadian politician, who served as the 30th premier of Quebec from 2012 to 2014. Marois had been a member of the National Assembly in various ridings since 1981 as a member of the Parti Québ� ...

Simon-Napoléon Parent Simon-Napoléon Parent (September 12, 1855 – September 7, 1920) was the 12th premier of Quebec from October 3, 1900 to March 21, 1905, as well as serving as President of the Quebec Bridge and Railway Company. Background Parent was born in ...

and

Louis-Alexandre Taschereau Louis-Alexandre Taschereau (; March 5, 1867 – July 6, 1952) was the 14th premier of Quebec from 1920 to 1936. He was a member of the Parti libéral du Québec. Early life Taschereau was born in Quebec City, Quebec, the son of Jean-Tho ...

* Supreme Court Justices: Suzanne Côté,

Louis LeBel Louis LeBel (born November 30, 1939) is a former puisne justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. He served on the Court from 2000 to 2014. LeBel was born in Quebec City. He is the son of lawyer Paul LeBel, Q.C. He went to school at the Collè ...

, Claire L'Heureux-Dubé, Charles Fitzpatrick,

Arthur Cyrille Albert Malouin Arthur Cyrille Albert Malouin (March 13, 1857 – April 5, 1936) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Born in Quebec City, Canada East (now Quebec), the son of Jacques Malouin and Marie-Ang ...

Lawrence Arthur Dumoulin Cannon Lawrence Arthur Dumoulin Cannon (April 28, 1877 – December 25, 1939) was a Canadian lawyer, politician, and Puisne Justice of the Supreme Court of Canada. Born in Arthabaska, Quebec, the son of Lawrence John Cannon and Aurélie Dumouli ...

, Louis-Philippe Pigeon, Julien Chouinard, Robert Taschereau,

Henri-Elzéar Taschereau Sir Henri-Elzéar Taschereau, (October 7, 1836 – April 14, 1911) was a Canadians, Canadian jurist and the fourth Chief Justice of Canada. Career Taschereau was born in his family's seigneurial manor house at Sainte-Marie, Quebec, Sainte-Ma ...

, Thibaudeau Rinfret Grand Duke Jean 29.09.2006.jpg, Jean,

Grand Duke of Luxembourg The Grand Duke of Luxembourg ( lb, Groussherzog vu Lëtzebuerg, french: Grand-duc de Luxembourg, german: Großherzog von Luxemburg) is the monarchical head of state of Luxembourg. Luxembourg has been a grand duchy since 15 March 1815, when it ...

. Louisstlaurent.jpg, Louis St. Laurent, 12th

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada (french: premier ministre du Canada, link=no) is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the confidence of a majority the elected House of Commons; as su ...

. Mulroney.jpg, Brian Mulroney, 18th Prime Minister of Canada. Jean Chrétien 2010.jpg, Jean Chrétien, 20th Prime Mininister of Canada. Jacques-Édouard Alexis.jpg,

Jacques-Édouard Alexis Jacques-Édouard Alexis (born 21 September 1947) is a Haitian politician. He served as the Prime Minister of Haiti from 1999 to 2001 and was Prime Minister for a second term from 2006 to 2008 when he was dismissed due to political fallout from fo ...

, 9th Prime Minister of Haiti. Niklaus Wirth, UrGU.jpg, Niklaus Wirth, designer of several programming languages. Charles Fitzpatrick.jpg, Charles Fitzpatrick, fifth Chief Justice of Canada.

References

External links

*
Bibliothèque de l'Université Laval

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Laval, Universite 1663 establishments in the French colonial empire 1852 establishments in Canada Education in Quebec City Educational institutions established in the 1660s Forestry education Universities in Quebec Laval