Creation of the Marguerite-Bourgeoys Welcome and Support Fund

Photo: Jean-Paul Gagné, Chairman of the Board, Fondation pour les élèves de Montréal; Nicolas Dedek, Executive Director, Fondation pour les élèves de Montréal; Sister Ona B. Bessette, Leader of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame

Montreal, February 13, 2024 – The Sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame are joining with the Fondation des élèves de Montréal to create the Marguerite-Bourgeoys Welcome and Support Fund to support students in public schools in Montreal.

Through this dedicated fund, the Congregation wishes to promote the development and educational success of students in vulnerable situations and contribute to reducing social inequalities, a priority for the Congregation.

The Marguerite-Bourgeoys Welcome and Support Fund will support the most vulnerable students from highly disadvantaged backgrounds, including those who have recently arrived in Canada. Indeed, schools in some neighbourhoods face additional challenges with the needs of families that are refugees, immigrants or in vulnerable situations and whose children sometimes come to school without school supplies, a winter coat or lunch money.

Currently, around 75% of the students who attend public schools on the Island of Montreal come from families living in poverty. The financial contributions of the Congregation will allow the Fondation to provide crucial aid to the schools that these children attend.

The Marguerite-Bourgeoys Welcome and Support Fund will support these students in three main areas:

1. access to school and educational materials (books, exercise books, school supplies, etc.);
2. access to francization support programs during the summer for the children of recent immigrants and refugees;
3. food assistance.

The Congregation entrusts the management of this Fund to the Fondation pour les élèves de Montréal, which will ensure that needs are prioritized. The Fondation helps more than 109,000 students in 187 educational establishments across Montreal, including 121 primary schools and 24 high schools.

“The sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame have founded and run more than 340 schools in Quebec, and we have been coming to the aid of the poorest people in the world for over 366 years now. The creation of the Marguerite-Bourgeoys Welcome and Support Fund within the Fondation pour les élèves de Montréal is a natural part of our mission. We hope that our work will continue for decades more, and the partnership that we are forging today with the Fondation pour les élèves de Montréal will contribute to our legacy in Quebec. The needs of children and families living in poverty in Montreal are significant, and it is absolutely crucial that we deploy the necessary resources to ensure the academic success and development of our children. Liberating education has always been a core value of the Sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame. By ‘liberating education,’ we mean an education that is person-centred, always conscious of the dignity of each person and that aims to develop the full potential of every student. Such an education is never achieved alone; it is always the fruit of collaboration, much like the society in which these students will participate as they grow up. Supporting them now guarantees a better future for all.” Sister Ona Bessette, CND, Leader of The Sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame.

“This arrangement with the Congrégation de Notre-Dame will be of tremendous help to thousands of students who do not benefit from the minimal basic conditions to allow them to fully take advantage of their education. This help will also enable the Fondation pour les élèves de Montréal to support francization programs for students from immigrant families, thus helping their integration into Quebec society and their academic success. The Fondation is very grateful for this assistance from the Congrégation in its mission to support the education and development of students.” Jean-Paul Gagné, chairman of the board, Fondation pour les élèves de Montréal.

The welcome and support fund bears the name of the Congregation’s foundress and Montreal’s first teacher: Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys. Creating this fund is therefore perfectly in line with the mission of the Sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame.