Le Petit Séminaire de Québec is a private
French-languageCanadian French is an umbrella term referring to the varieties of French spoken in Canada. French is the mother tongue of nearly seven million Canadians, a figure constituting roughly 22% of the national population. At the federal level it has co-official status alongside English...
Roman Catholic
secondary schoolSecondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
in the Vieux-Québec area of
Quebec CityQuebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
which was originally part of the Séminaire de Québec. In 1985, the seminary transferred the secondary school to a new secular not-for-profit organization, "le Collège François-de-Laval", which was given the right to use the "Petit Séminaire de Québec" name.
Many French-Canadian clergy of the 18th and 19th century, as well as innumerable academics, went through the Petit Séminaire before higher education became widely accessible. Until 1970, the
SuperiorA head teacher or school principal is the most senior teacher, leader and manager of a school....
of the Seminary was also the Rector of
Université LavalLaval University is the oldest centre of education in Canada and was the first institution in North America to offer higher education in French...
, which was originally an offshoot of it.
Another school,
Le Petit Séminaire de Québec, campus de l'OutaouaisLe Petit Séminaire de Québec - campus de l'Outaouais is a private French language college in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It offers a secondary school International Baccalaureate program as well as the post-secondary Diploma of Collegial Studies....
was founded as a branch of the school in the Outaouais area of western Quebec.
A separate organization with a similar name, the Petit séminaire diocésain de Québec, is a residential school for boys considering the Roman Catholic priesthood, managed by the Séminaire de Québec.
Of 867 students who lived at the Petit Séminaire during the French period, 198 graduated. Of these, 118 became priests or brothers, and 80 chose other occupations, according to research by historian Mgr
Amédée GosselinAmédée Gosselin was a Canadian historian, academic administrator and Roman Catholic priest.Born in Saint-Charles-de-Bellechasse, Canada East, he studied the classical course and theology from 1878 until 1890 at the Petit Séminaire de Québec and the Grand Séminaire de Québec, and was subsequently...
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