The Martyrs Shrine in Midland, Ontario

Martyrs’ Shrine, Canada’s early church, is a national holy and historic space honouring the lives of the Canadian Martyrs.

The Shrine celebrates a nearly 400-year-old story of love and discovery that inspired and influenced the formation of Canada as we know it today.

The Shrine is a ministry of the Jesuits in English Canada.This ‘house of prayer, home of peace’ honours the Jesuit missionaries and their companions who lived, worked, and died here in the lands of the Wendat (Huron) back in the sixteenth century.

Martyrs’ Shrine is located just outside of Midland, Ontario, in the Heart of Georgian Bay. This year, 2026, marks the 100th Anniversary of the founding of the Martyrs Shrine. It also marks the 400th anniversary since Jesuit Father Jean de Brebeuf moved from Quebec to the land of the Hurons (now the Wendat First Nation) in 1626, to establish the first Christian mission outside of Quebec. Over the next 23 years they learnt the local languages, studied the local history and culture and made many converts. It was the beginning of the first native Christian community which we sometimes call the first Christian community of Canada.

Brébeuf is credited with composing the 'Huron Carol', Canada's oldest Christmas song, written around 1642. In March 1649 Fr Jean with five Jesuit colleagues and two laymen were captured, tortured and killed by a rival tribe, the Iroquois.

Nearly 400 years have passed since St Jean de Brebeuf and his companions laid down their life for the Indigenous people and their faith.

The Shrine opened in June of 1926, on the shores of Georgian Bay, Midland, Ontario. During the Jubilee year in 2025 for the Universal Church and during all of last year the Shrine was designated an official pilgrimage site by the Pope. That's a gift Popes gave to Martyrs Shrine and renewed by Saint Pope John Paul II, who visited the Shrine in 1984.

Father John O'Brien, Director of the Shrine and Superior of the Jesuits at the Shrine said: "It's North America's Holiest Shrine because of the blood shed by the Martyrs".