Use the Missions Locations tabs on the left to read about the various missions and institutions of the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul. Mission histories are in the process of being written and uploaded.
Check out: Alberta; British Columbia; International – Guatemala, and Peru; Manitoba – Winnipeg; Ontario – Apple Hill, Batawa, Chesterville, Gananoque, Glen Nevis, King City, Lancaster, Picton, Prescott, Toronto, Trenton, and Tweed; Quebec; and Sasktachewan
Sketches of St. Peter’s Convent, Trenton; St. John’s Convent, Perth; Providence Shelter, Winnipeg; and Sacred Heart Convent, Arnprior by Terri Horricks (SPSVP 2003-20-4, 2003-20-6, 2003-20-5, 2002-28-2).
The Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul were founded in Kingston in 1861 to serve the poor and disadvantaged. Their works of charity included of caring for the sick, orphans and the elderly. The first ten years of the congregation’s history were focused on ministry in Kingston while the congregation grew and developed.
After this initial foundational period, the congregation embarked on a lengthy period of institutional expansion across Canada that included hospitals, schools orphanages and hostels. Their expansion began in Holyoke, Massachusetts where they served from 1873 to 1892. It is in Holyoke that Sisters were trained as teachers.
The first healthcare institution opened in 1887 with the foundation of St. Vincent de Paul Hospital in Brockville. The Sisters soon expanded their healthcare ministry to include hospitals in Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, British Columbia and Quebec. Their hospital ministry was complimented by the running of five nursing schools.
With the return of the Sisters from Holyoke in 1892, the teaching Sisters moved into teaching missions in Ontario. The first of these teaching missions to open was in Perth Ontario in December 1892. Gradually the network of school and music teachers spread across the Diocese of Kingston, and beyond to include various towns in Ontario, Alberta and Montreal.
The Sisters continued their original ministries of looking after the elderly and taking care of orphans by founding homes for the aged in Ontario, Alberta, Quebec and Massachusetts and founding orphanages in Ontario, Alberta, Manitoba and Massachusetts.
Mission sketches by Terri Horricks
After the Second Vatican Council the Sisters of Providence of St. Vincent de Paul responded to the needs of the times and focused on new opportunities for ministry. Some of the new ventures included pastoral counseling, spiritual direction, social justice advocacy, prison ministry, campus ministry, native ministry, holistic ministries, establishing small group homes for those in need and establishing retreat centres. In 1967 the Sisters of Providence responded to the Pope’s request for missionaries to work in Latin America. After a fact finding trip the congregation began ministry in Guatemala and Peru.
Over the course of the congregation’s history sisters have served in Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, the United States, Peru, Guatemala and Uganda. The congregation currently has a presence in Ontario, Alberta and Peru.
