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May 20, 1521

Iñigo de Loyola is injured in Pamplona.
May 20, 1521

August 15, 1534

First vows in Montmartre by Ignatius Loyola, François Xavier, Pierre
August 15, 1534

1536

Paschase Broët, Jean Codure and Claude Jay join the group of first companions.
1536

June 24, 1537

Ordination in Venice of St. Ignatius and those companions who are not yet priests.
June 24, 1537

September 3, 1539

Pope Paul III gives his oral approval to the project of founding a religious order. Digitus Dei Est Hic. (“The finger of God is here”)
September 3, 1539

March 16, 1540

Saint Francis Xavier leaves Rome for India.
March 16, 1540

September 27, 1540

Pope Paul III approves the Society of Jesus through the bull Regimini Militantis Ecclesiae.
September 27, 1540

April 22, 1541

Saint Ignatius and his companions make their vows as Jesuits at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls in Rome.
April 22, 1541

July 30, 1548

Pope Paul III approves the Spiritual Exercises.
July 30, 1548

July 27, 1609

Beatification by Pope Paul V of Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier.
July 27, 1609

January 26, 1611

Pierre Biard and Ennemond Massé set sail from Dieppe, France, to Port-Royal, Acadia.
January 26, 1611

May 22, 1611

Arrival at Port-Royal of Fathers Pierre Biard and Ennemond Massé.
May 22, 1611

1616

Father Biard begins writing the Jesuit Relations.
1616

March 12, 1622

Canonization of Ignatius Loyola and Francis Xavier by Pope Gregory XV.
March 12, 1622

April 26, 1625

Jean de Brébeuf and four companions leave Dieppe for Quebec City with the goal of restoring a Jesuit mission in Canada.
April 26, 1625

1628

The Jesuits are expelled from the territory when the English temporarily occupy New France.
1628

1632

With the return of the colony in French hands, this year marks the beginning of the third Jesuit missionary enterprise in New France.
1632

July, 1634

Accompanied by two Jesuits and seven other Frenchmen, Jean de Brebeuf returns to Huronia and becomes the first Jesuit superior. He becomes the superior of the mission of Saint-Joseph I, near Toanché, in Huronia.
  • Foundation of the Jesuit College in Quebec City. This is the first facility of its kind in North America, predating Harvard by two years.
July, 1634

1639

Beginning of the construction of Sainte-Marie-au-pays-des-Hurons.
1639

June 2, 1641

The Jesuit Paul LeJeune founded the Saguenay mission in Tadoussac.
June 2, 1641

May 17, 1642

First Mass celebrated at Ville-Marie by Father Barthélémy Vimont, the day of the founding of the city.
May 17, 1642

July 16, 1647

The Jesuit Jean de Quen discovers Lac Saint-Jean.
July 16, 1647

March 16-17, 1649

Death of Jean de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant at Saint- Ignace (Taenhatentaron).
March 16-17, 1649

June 14, 1649

Father Ragueneau takes refuge with the surviving Huron on Ahoendoe Island where he will stay for a year before returning to Quebec.
June 14, 1649

1663

ounding of the Séminaire de Québec, which at this time includes only the Major Seminary.
1663

January 3, 1665

The first Jesuit born in Canada, Noël Juchereau de la Ferte, a medical graduate, enters the novitiate of the Jesuits in Paris as a brother.
January 3, 1665

1667

Establishment of the Kentake Mission: The Jesuit Pierre Raffeix brings together a group of Native Americans from different nations and founds the Saint-François- Xavier mission in the seigneury of La Prairie-de-la-Madeleine.
1667

June 28, 1672

Father Charles Albanel reaches Hudson Bay by travelling through the Saguenay region.
June 28, 1672

1676

The Iroquois mission, Kentaké, is relocated and renamed Kahnawake.
1676

April 17, 1680

Death to Kahnawake of Kateri Tekakwitha.
April 17, 1680

February 10, 1763

Signature of the Treaty of Paris, which ceded Canada to Great Britain.
February 10, 1763

March, 1764

King Louis XV decrees the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Kingdom of France.
March, 1764

December 20, 1766

Priestly ordination of Brother Jean-Joseph Casot, who will be the last Jesuit of the Old Regime present in Canada.
December 20, 1766

July 21, 1773

Clement XIV signs the brief Dominicus ac Redemptor which, from August 16th, suppresses the Society of Jesus everywhere in the world, as a result of pressure exerted on Rome by the governments of Portugal, Spain and Spain. France.
July 21, 1773

1774

In concert with Governor Carleton, the bishop of Quebec, Jean-Olivier Briand, refuses to obey the order of Pope Clement XIV to suppress the Society of Jesus. This is how the Jesuits of Canada were able to keep their name and their property.
1774

July 16, 1791

Death in Sandwich (now Windsor, Ontario) of Father Pierre Potier, the last Jesuit of the early Society still working with the First Nations.
July 16, 1791

March 3, 1800

Father Jean-Joseph Casot dies in Quebec at the age of 72. With him, the Society of Jesus dies in Canada.
March 3, 1800

August 8, 1814

The Jesuit order is restored by Pope Pius VII, which will enable them to return to Lower Canada.
August 8, 1814

1839

Father Pierre Chazelle arrives in Canada to preach the annual retreat of the priests of the diocese of Montreal and also to test the waters as to the eventual return of the Jesuits to Canada.
1839

1841

Bishop Ignace Bourget, bishop of Montreal, writes a memoir that will be quickly titled “The Call to the Jesuits.”
1841

May 11, 1842

Arrival at Laprairie des Fathers Pierre Chazelle, Félix Martin, Paul Luiset, Dominique du Ranquet, Joseph Hanipaux, Remi Tellier as well as the brother brothers Joseph Jennesseaux, Pierre Tupin and Emmanuel Brenans.
May 11, 1842

September 9, 1843

Augustin Régnier, a graduate of Saint-Hyacinthe College, is the first novice to join the new Society in Canada.
September 9, 1843

October 17, 1843

Entry to the novitiate of the second candidate: Mr. Henri Hudon, from College Saint-Anne de la Pocatière.
October 17, 1843

1843

Father Dominique du Ranquet in Walpole Island, near Windsor, becomes the first of the new Jesuits missioned to the First Nations.
1843

July 9, 1844

Jean-Pierre Choné arrives in Wikwemikong, Ontario, to establish a Jesuit mission there.
July 9, 1844

July 31, 1844

A decree of Father General detaches the mission of Upper Canada from that of Lower Canada. Father Chazelle becomes Superior of Upper Canada and Father Martin, Superior of Lower Canada.
July 31, 1844

1844

Establishment of the Jesuit Mission Headquarters in Wikwemikong, Ontario, in the Manitoulin Islands. This is the oldest unbroken mission in Canada to date.
1844

September 17, 1845

Entry of the first Canadian-English Jesuit, Richard Baxter, to the novitiate of Montreal.
September 17, 1845

April 26, 1850

Official opening of Collège Sainte-Marie.
April 26, 1850

1854

Fathers John Holzer and Gasper Matoga set up a mission in Guelph, Ontario, to serve the Germans there and other settlers.
1854

1863

The New York-Canada mission is attached to the new Province of Champagne in France.
1863

December 3, 1865

Blessing of the Gesù Church, Chapel of Collège Sainte-Marie and public chapel.
December 3, 1865

1879

The Mission of Canada is separated from New York and is attached to the English province.
1879

October 5, 1880

Father Henri Hudon becomes the first superior of the Independent Mission of Canada.
October 5, 1880

July 31, 1885

Official opening of the Scholasticate of the Immaculate Conception.
July 31, 1885

October 13, 1887

The Mission of Canada separates from the English province to become independent.
October 13, 1887

1903

The Jesuits are recalled in the mission Saint-François-Xavier, Kahnawake.
1903

August 15, 1907

The Mission of Canada becomes the Province of Canada. The new Province of Canada supports the Alaska Mission.
August 15, 1907

1912

Seventeen English-Canadian novices from Montreal move to Guelph, Ontario, to found the Novitiate Saint-Stanislas.
1912

1918

Foundation of the first Canadian Jesuit Mission overseas in Suchow, China.
1918

June 27, 1924

Division of the Province of Canada into the Vice Province of Upper Canada and the Province of Lower Canada.
June 27, 1924

June 21, 1925

Beatification of Fathers Brébeuf, Jogues and their six companions.
June 21, 1925

1926

Opening of the Shrine of the Canadian Martyrs in Midland, Ontario.
1926

June 29, 1930

Canonization of the Canadian Martyrs.
June 29, 1930

September 6, 1930

Founding of Regis College, the Jesuit Seminary in Toronto.
September 6, 1930

July 1, 1934

Priestly ordination, by Most Reverend Joseph-Guillaume Forbes, Archbishop of Ottawa, of the first Iroquois Jesuit, Father Michel Karhaienton Jacobs at the Mission Saint-François-Xavier in Kahnawake.
July 1, 1934

March 12, 1939

The Vice Province of Upper Canada becomes the province of Upper Canada.
March 12, 1939

October 16, 1940

Pope Pius XII proclaims the Canadian Martyrs second bosses of Canada.
October 16, 1940

January 3, 1943

Kateri Tekakwitha is declared Venerable.
January 3, 1943

1946

The Province of Upper Canada accepts its first overseas mission to Darjeeling, India, which eventually will expand to include Bhutan and Nepal.
1946

1953

The Holy See gives the Jesuits in Canada charge of the Interdiocesan Seminary in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
1953

1956

Return of the Jesuits to northern Haiti, in Quartier-Morin.
1956

1959

The Jesuits open in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the first retreat house, Villa Manrèse.
1959

1964

The province of Lower Canada is divided into two sections: Quebec and Montreal.
1964

May 22, 1965

Father Pedro Arrupe is elected Superior General of the Jesuits.
May 22, 1965

1967

Arrival of Pedro Arrupe. This is the first visit of a General to Canada.
1967

1968

The first Canadian Jesuit arrives in Zambia to join this mission.
1968

July 31, 1968

The Province of French Canada is born of the reunification of the provinces of Quebec and Montreal.
July 31, 1968

1986

The first Canadian Jesuit arrives in Jamaica to join this mission from the province of New England.
1986

August 19, 1994

The novices of Upper Canada move to the Interprovincial Novitiate in St. Paul, Minnesota.
August 19, 1994

2001

Father Martin Royackers is murdered in his parish in Annotto Bay, Jamaica, where he worked to support poor farmers in search of suitable land.
2001

2002

Cooperation of the two Jesuit provinces of Canada at WYD in Toronto: The Ania program: Friends in the Lord, offered to youth served by apostolates of the Society of Jesus throughout the world.
2002

2004

Joint meetings of the councils of Canada’s two provincial superiors begin, at the rate of two meetings a year, to explore closer apostolic collaboration between the two provinces.
2004

2006

The Province of Upper Canada officially changes its name to Jesuits in English Canada.
2006

2008

Eight novices enter a new common and bilingual novitiate, serving the French and English speaking provinces.
2008

2009

The archives of the two Canadian Jesuit provinces unite in Montreal to form a single entity: the Jesuit Archives in Canada.
2009

2011

The Jesuits begin an entire year of celebrations for the 400th anniversary of the presence of the order in Canada.
2011

May, 2012

At the joint meeting of the councils of the two provinces, a prayerful review of the lights and shadows of the story of the Society of Jesus in Canada gives rise to the desire to form a single bilingual province for Canada.
May, 2012

June, 2013

A second community discernment deepens the desire for a new province.
June, 2013

Autumn, 2013

The first common catalogue of works and communities is published.
Autumn, 2013

2014

Creation of the preparatory committee for the new province.
2014

2016

Common process of discernment of all Jesuits in Canada, to prepare the appointment of the superior of the new province.
  • First joint meeting of community superiors from both provinces
2016

2017

First joint meeting of directors of all Jesuit works in Canada.
2017

May, 2018

Visit of the Superior General of the Society of Jesus, Arturo Sosa, who officially announces the creation of the new province of Canada, during a celebration at the Gésu in Montreal.
May, 2018

July 31, 2018

Birth of the Province of Canada.
July 31, 2018