14 Facts About Norbert Provencher

Joseph-Norbert Provencher was a Canadian clergyman and missionary and one of the founders of the modern province of Manitoba.

Norbert Provencher was the first Bishop of Saint Boniface and was an important figure in the history of the Franco-Manitoban community.

Norbert Provencher was educated at the Nicolet College Classique and the Quebec Seminary.

Part of the building served as a chapel, which Norbert Provencher dedicated to famous missionary, Saint Boniface.

In 1819, Norbert Provencher was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Quebec with the titular title of Bishop of Juliopolis, and vicar general for the northwest.

Norbert Provencher returned to St Boniface and built the school that is known as the Universite de Saint-Boniface and in 1832 Saint-Boniface Cathedral.

In 1844, Norbert Provencher was appointed head of the newly-formed Vicariate Apostolic of James Bay, which was elevated to the Diocese of Northwest in 1847, and he was appointed its first bishop.

In 1843, Norbert Provencher went to Europe to recruit some religious men and women.

Norbert Provencher established Indian missions at Lac Sainte-Anne not far from Fort Edmonton, and Saint-Jean Baptiste in Ile-a-la-Crosse.

Norbert Provencher brought the Grey Nuns to the Canadian Northwest.

Norbert Provencher stood six feet four inches, and had a noble bearing.

Bishop Norbert Provencher died at Saint Boniface, Manitoba, on June 7,1853, at the age of 66.

Norbert Provencher is commemorated by Provencher Boulevard in Winnipeg and the Provencher Monument in the St Boniface Cathedral Cemetery.

Norbert Provencher's papers are in the Archives of the Archdiocese of Quebec and in the Archives of Manitoba.