The Congregation Notre-Dame will leave land near Villa-Maria metro after 190 years

The Sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame announced on Wednesday that in seven years' time, they would be leaving the vast estate next to the Villa Maria metro station in the west of Montreal, which they have owned for almost 190 years (AP Photo/John Locher).

The Sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame announced on Wednesday that in seven years they will be leaving the vast estate next to the Villa Maria metro station in the west end of Montreal, which they have owned for almost 190 years.

The estate is located on nearly 2.3 million square feet of land that straddles the territories of the Côte-des-Neiges-Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough and the City of Westmount, and includes a residence for independent sisters, an infirmary for nuns, an administrative centre, Villa Maria private college and Marianopolis private CEGEP.

The congregation explains its decision by the ageing and dwindling numbers of its members. The management of the premises had become too cumbersome for the resources available.

Management of the infirmary will be entrusted to a specialist firm on Oct. 1, but the congregation will retain ownership of it. In a few years' time, given the decline in the number of nuns, the infirmary will be closed, and nuns in need of care will be transferred to a residence managed by a third party outside the estate.

The congregation said that it will respect its current lease with Villa Maria College, which it founded in 1854. The remaining term of the lease is seven years, until July 31, 2030. This means that all current students and those admitted in 2024 will be able to complete their studies in the current buildings.

Marianopolis College has occupied a building built by the congregation in 1926 since 2007. The congregation points out that the organization that has been running it for a number of years will acquire the building and land in the coming months so that its educational mission can continue.

The Superior General of the Sisters of the Congregation of Notre-Dame, Sister Ona Bessette, says it is with great sadness that the decision to put the building up for sale has been made. She points out that the average age of the community is over 86.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 21, 2023.