Montreal – General Hospital / Grey Nuns / Maison Mere d’Youville

1688-1871

Place d’Youville and the historic Maison Mère d’Youville (House of Mother Youville) are located in old Montreal. Born Marie-Marguerite Dufrost de Lajemmerais, she became a widow at a young age, having already endured the loss of her father, husband, and four of her six children. These early hardships shaped her deep faith and compassion for others, ultimately driving her to dedicate her life to charitable work.

In 1747, Saint Marguerite d'Youville founded the Religious Sisters of Charity of Montreal, widely recognized as the Grey Nuns. At the same time, the order took over the General Hospital, which had been operated by the Charron Brothers since 1693. At the time, the hospital was in poor condition, and under the Brothers’ management, only men were allowed entry. Mother d’Youville changed that, opening the doors to all in need, which earned to all in need, which earned the site the affectionate name Maison Mère d’Youville.

The hospital burned and was rebuilt three times between 1695 and 1734. For two centuries, before and after the conquest of New France by the British, the Hôtel-Dieu was the only French-language hospital in Montreal. In 1861, it was moved from Old Montreal to its present site near Mount Royal.

In 1765, a major fire destroyed the hospital, but it was promptly rebuilt on its original foundations. The hospital continued to operate under the Grey Nuns until 1871, well after Marguerite d’Youville’s death in 1771.

Today, the former hospital on Saint-Pierre Street is preserved as Maison Mère d’Youville. Her legacy of welcoming those in distress. Her extraordinary service to the poor earned her lasting recognition—she became the first Canadian-born woman to be canonized, and both her surviving sons became priests.

Since 2010, Sainte Marguerite d’Youville has been laid to rest at the Basilica of Sainte-Anne in Varennes, her birthplace.

The origins of the Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal date to the arrival in 1642 of Paul Chomedey and a small party of French settlers on the Island of Montreal to found the French colony of Ville-Marie. Among them was Jeanne Mance, the first nurse in New France. She founded the hospital on October 8, 1645.

In 1657 Mance recruited three sisters of the Religious Hospitallers of St. Joseph (Religieuses hospitalières de Saint-Joseph) order of nuns to serve with her as staff. The stone structure was built in 1688.

"Hôtel-Dieu" literally translates to "Hotel of God" or "Hostel of God". This name reflects the historical roots of these institutions in French-speaking countries, which were established by the Catholic Church as hospices to care for the poor, weary travelers, orphans, and the sick.

Because medieval medicine and charity were deeply intertwined with religion, the name served as a reminder that healing was a divine mission and that the hospital offered spiritual refuge alongside physical care. The term is most famously associated with the Hôtel-Dieu de Paris, often cited as the oldest continuously operating hospital in the world, tracing its roots back to 651 AD.