Type Public Rector Denis Brière Founded 1663 Total enrollment 48,000 (2013) | Endowment $120.5 million Founder François de Laval Province Québec Phone +1 418-656-2131 | |
Motto Deo favente haud pluribus impar Motto in English By the grace of God, to no one equal Established 1663 (Séminaire de Québec)
December 8, 1852 (Royal Charter) Address 2325 Rue de l'Université, Ville de Québec, QC G1V 0A6, Canada Undergraduate tuition and fees Local tuition: 2,900.76 CAD (2015) Notable alumni Louis St Laurent, Conrad Black, Ben Mulroney, Stéphane Dion, Jean Chrétien Similar Université de Montréal, Université du Québec à Montréal, CEGEP, Université de Sherbrooke, McGill University Profiles | ||
Vie tudiante en re sidence l universit laval
Université Laval is a French-language, public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The University was founded by royal charter issued by Queen Victoria in 1852, with roots in the founding of the Séminaire de Québec in 1663 by François de Montmorency-Laval, making it the oldest centre of higher education in Canada and the first North American institution to offer higher education in French. The university, whose main campus was erected from the 1950s onward in the suburban borough Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge, is ranked among the top ten Canadian universities in terms of research funding and holds four Canada Excellence Research Chairs.
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History
The university began as the Séminaire de Québec, which was founded in 1663 by François de Montmorency-Laval, a member of the House of Laval and the first Bishop of New France.
During the French Regime the institution mainly trained priests to serve in New France. After the Conquest of 1760, the British expanded education in Canada to include the liberal arts. French Canadians had at the time no opportunity to pursue higher education, and Bishop Bourget of Montreal suggested expanding the Séminaire de Québec into Université Laval. Louis Casault, a priest who taught physics at the Séminaire de Québec, went to Europe to seek a royal charter and study the best university systems there.
The Séminaire de Québec was granted a royal charter on December 8, 1852, by Queen Victoria, at the request of Lord Elgin (Governor-General of the Province of Canada), creating Université Laval with "the rights and privileges of a university". The charter was signed in 1852. Pope Benedict XV approved the plan and authorized the institution to establish chairs of theology and confer degrees.
In 1878, the university opened a second campus in Montreal, which became the Université de Montréal on May 8, 1919, by a writ of Pope Benedict XV. In 1971, a second charter transferred all authority to the Université Laval council.
By 1925, the university had outgrown its location. The Old City was very crowded, making it difficult to add new buildings to the campus. The university moved to Sainte-Foy which at the time was a semi-rural community west of the Quebec city centre in the 1950s. The School of Architecture returned to the old building (now affectionately referred to as Le Vieux Séminaire) in 1989.
Université Laval is governed by a board of governors and a faculty senate. This structure was modelled on the provincial University of Toronto Act of 1906, which established a bicameral system of university government consisting of a senate (faculty), responsible for academic policy, and a board of governors (citizens) exercising exclusive control over financial policy and having formal authority in all other matters. The president, appointed by the board, was to serve as a link between the two bodies and lead the institution.
In the early part of the 20th century, the need for higher education expanded beyond the classical fields of theology, law and medicine, and the university introduced science and social-science departments such as forestry and household science. In addition, graduate training based on the German-inspired American model of specialized course work and the completion of a research thesis was introduced.
The university opened its department of social, political, and economic sciences in 1938, signalling a change of approach that continued into the 1960s, based on an idea of higher education as the key to social justice and economic productivity for individuals and society.
The royal charter that founded Université Laval in 1852 was designated a National Historic Event in 1972.
"Laval", a waltz by French-Canadian ragtime composer, Wilfrid Beaudry, was dedicated to the students at Laval University and the University of Montreal. The music for piano was published in Québec by J. Beaudry, circa 1906.
Buildings and features
The Laval University building on St. Denis Street was designed by Maurice Perrault in 1893–94. Joseph Simeon Bergeron (architect) designed several buildings at Laval University including the School of Chemistry (1923), the addition on Ste. Famille Street (1931), the Mining School (1938), and the cafeteria building (1945).
Université Laval's main campus covers 1.2 km2 (0.46 sq mi) and has over 30 buildings, all linked by 10 km (6.2 mi) of underground walkways, which are particularly useful in the winter. Of the campus lands, 56 percent are wooded areas, grasslands, and sports fields. The campus is home to the Roger-Van den Hende botanical garden which contains some 67 species of deciduous and coniferous trees and 60 different species of birds.
Laval University also hosts a branch of the National Archives of Quebec.
Programs
As of 2002, Université Laval offered over 350 programs to more than 38,000 students. The university also attracts more than 2,500 foreign students annually, and has almost 1,000 students drawn from Canadian provinces outside of Quebec. Many students come to the university for the Français pour non-francophones program that offers instruction in French as a second language to students from Canada and around the world. It is also the only university in Quebec which trains forestry engineers. Since the mid-1980s, Université Laval has offered distance learning; over 30 programs and 400 courses are offered by distance learning, of which 80% are accessible from the internet.
Faculties and schools
* The Département des Sciences des Aliments et de Nutrition has an accredited dietetic program. The university is accredited by a professional organization such as the Dietitians of Canada and the university's graduates may subsequently become registered dietitians.
** The Faculty is part of the AUFSC and has accredited baccalaureate of science programs with specializations in forestry & environmental management; forestry operations (co-op) and forestry engineering.
Canada Excellence Research Chairs
Québec university holds four of the 19 Canada Excellence Research Chairs awarded nationwide: Canada Excellence Research Chair in Remote Sensing of Canada’s New Arctic Frontier, Canada Research Excellence Chair in the Microbiome-Endocannabinoidome Axis in Metabolic Health, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Photonic Innovations, and Communication and Canada Excellence Research Chair in Neurophotonics.
University press
Les Presses de l'Université Laval, which was founded in 1950, deals with Canadian civilization, literature, medieval studies, law, social sciences, physical sciences and engineering.
University cooperative
The Coopérative de l'Université Laval is engaged in the sale of products to customers throughout the university, such as books, lecture notes and computers.
Athletics and sports teams
Athletics take place at the PEPS complex. Laval's varsity sports teams are named the Rouge-et-Or (Red & Gold). The men's football team was the 2013 Canadian champion and won seven Vanier Cups in ten years from 2003 to 2013.
Notable alumni
Public figures, including Prime Ministers of Canada, Premiers of Quebec, Supreme Court Justices, federal Cabinet Ministers, Senators, and Lieutenant-Governors as well as national and international athletes have graduated from l'Université Laval. Some of the more prominent are: