The College de Saint-Boniface, a typical College classique, modelled on those of Quebec, offered five-to eight-year courses which prepared students for the priesthood, law or medicine. This establishment traces its origin to the first classes taught by the abbe Joseph-Norbert Provencher following his arrival at Red river in 1818. In 1877, the college joined St. John's College (Anglican) and Manitoba College (Presbyterian) to form the University of Manitoba.
At first, secular priests were in charge of instruction, but from 1885 to the late 1960s, the College was placed in the hands of the Jesuit order. Students spent the full day at the College, and joined in all prescribed exercises. This study hall (c. 1900) shows the younger boys all in uniform seated at numbered desks where silence was the rule.
Francophones in Western Canada have depended on this and similar colleges in Gravelbourg and in Edmonton to prepare the leaders for their community. Many graduates, however, have left St. Boniface to occupy positions in many fields and are found all over the world.
Courtesy: Paul RΘgnier "A History of St. Boniface College." M. Ed. Thesis. University of Manitoba. 1964. Photograph: Le MusΘe de Saint-Boniface
