TheUniversité de Montréal (English:University of Montreal;UdeM;French pronunciation:[ynivɛʁsitedəmɔ̃ʁeal])[7][note 2] is a French-language publicresearch university inMontreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in theCôte-des-Neiges neighborhood ofCôte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce onMount Royal near the Outremont Summit (also called Mount Murray), in the borough ofOutremont. The institution comprises thirteen faculties, more than sixty departments and two[8] affiliated schools: thePolytechnique Montréal (School of Engineering; formerly the École polytechnique de Montréal) andHEC Montréal (School of Business, formerly École des Hautes études commerciales). It offers more than 650 undergraduate programmes and graduate programmes, including 71 doctoral programmes.
The university was founded as a satellite campus of theUniversité Laval in 1878. It became an independent institution after it was issued a papal charter in 1919 and a provincial charter in 1920.Université de Montréal moved from Montreal'sQuartier Latin to its present location atMount Royal in 1942. It was made a secular institution with the passing of another provincial charter in 1967.
The school is co-educational, and has 34,335 undergraduate and 11,925 post-graduate students (excluding affiliated schools). Alumni and former students reside across Canada and around the world, with notable alumni serving as government officials, academics, and business leaders.
TheUniversité de Montréal was founded in 1878 as a new branch ofUniversité Laval from Quebec City. It was then known as the Université Laval à Montréal.[9] The move initially went against the wishes of theBishop of Montréal,Édouard-Charles Fabre, who advocated an independent university in his city.[10] Certain parts of the institution's educational facilities, such as those of theSéminaire de Québec and the Faculty of Medicine (founded as the Montreal School of Medicine and Surgery), had already been established in Montréal in 1876 and 1843, respectively.[11]
TheVatican granted the university some administrative autonomy in 1889, thus allowing it to choose its own professors and license its own diplomas. However, it was not until 8 May 1919 that a papal charter fromPope Benedict XV granted full autonomy to the university.[12] It thus became an independent Catholic university and adoptedUniversité de Montréal as its name.[13]Université de Montréal was granted its first provincial charter on 14 February 1920.[12]
At the time of its creation, fewer than a hundred students were admitted to the university's three faculties, which at that time were located inOld Montreal. These were the Faculty of Theology (located at theGrand séminaire de Montréal), the Faculty of Law (hosted by theSociety of Saint-Sulpice), and the Faculty of Medicine (at theChâteau Ramezay).[14][15]
Graduate training based on German-inspired American models of specialized coursework and completion of a research thesis was introduced and adopted.[11] Most of Québec's secondary education establishments employed classic course methods of varying quality. This forced the university to open apreparatory school in 1887 to harmonize the education level of its students. Named the "Faculty of Arts", this school would remain in use until 1972 and was the predecessor of Québec's currentCEGEP system.[16]
The former main building of the university from 1895 to 1942. The building is located in Montreal'sQuartier Latin.
Two distinct schools eventually became affiliated to the university. The first was theÉcole Polytechnique, a school of engineering, which was founded in 1873 and became affiliated in 1887. The second was theÉcole des Hautes Études Commerciales, or HEC (a business school), which was founded in 1907 and became part of the university in 1915.[14] In 1907,Université de Montréal opened the first francophone school of architecture in Canada at the École Polytechnique.[17]
Between 1920 and 1925, seven new faculties were added: Philosophy, Literature, Sciences, Veterinary Medicine, Dental Surgery, Pharmacy, and Social Sciences.[18] Notably, the Faculty of Social Sciences was founded in 1920 byÉdouard Montpetit, the firstlaic to lead a faculty.[19] He thereafter was named secretary-general, a role he fulfilled until 1950.
From 1876 to 1895, most classes took place in theGrand séminaire de Montréal. From 1895 to 1942, the school was housed in a building at the intersection ofSaint-Denis andSainte-Catherine streets in Montreal's eastern downtownQuartier Latin. Unlike English-language universities in Montréal, such asMcGill University,Université de Montréal suffered a lack of funding for two major reasons: the relative poverty of theFrench Canadian population and the complications ensuing from its being managed remotely, from Quebec City. The downtown campus was hit by three different fires between 1919 and 1921, further complicating the university's already precarious finances and forcing it to spend much of its resources on repairing its own infrastructure.[18]
By 1930, enough funds had been accumulated to start the construction of a new campus on the northwest slope ofMount Royal, adopting new plans designed byErnest Cormier. However, thefinancial crisis of the 1930s virtually suspended all ongoing construction.[20] Many speculated that the university would have to sell off its unfinished building projects to ensure its own survival. Not until 1939 did theprovincial government directly intervene by injecting public funds.[21]
Construction of Pavilion Roger-Gaudry in 1941. The Mount Royal campus was inaugurated in 1943.
The campus's construction subsequently resumed and the mountain campus was officially inaugurated on 3 June 1943.[22] TheCôte-des-Neiges site includes property expropriated from a residential development along Decelles Avenue, known as Northmount Heights.[23] The university's former downtown facilities would later serve as Montreal's second francophone university, theUniversité du Québec à Montréal (UQAM).
In 1943, the university assisted theWestern Allies by providinglaboratory accommodations on its campus. Scientists there worked to develop a nuclear reactor, notably by conducting variousheavy water experiments. The research was part of the largerManhattan Project, which aimed to develop the firstatomic bomb. Scientists working on the school's campus eventually produced the firstatomic battery to work outside of the United States. One of the participating Québec scientists, Pierre Demers, also discovered a series of radioactive elements issued fromNeptunium.[24]
Université de Montréal was issued its second provincial charter in 1950.[12] A new government policy of higher education during the 1960s (following theQuiet Revolution) came in response to popular pressure and the belief that higher education was key to social justice and economic productivity.[11] The policy led to the school's third provincial charter, which was passed in 1967. It defined theUniversité de Montréal as a public institution, dedicated to higher learning and research, with students and teachers having the right to participate in the school's administration.[12]
In 1965, the appointment of the university's first secular rector,Roger Gaudry, paved the way for modernization. The school established its first adult-education degree program offered by aFrench Canadian university in 1968. That year theLionel-Groulx and3200 Jean-Brillant buildings were inaugurated, the former being named after Quebec nationalistLionel Groulx. The following year, the Louis Collin parking garage—which won aGovernor General's medal for its architecture in 1970—was erected.
An important event that marked the university's history was theÉcole Polytechnique massacre. On 6 December 1989, a gunman armed with a rifle entered the École Polytechnique building, killing 14 people, all of whom were women, before taking his own life.
Since 2002, the university has embarked on its largest construction project since the late 1960s, with the construction of five new buildings planned for advanced research in pharmacology, engineering, aerospace, cancer studies and biotechnology.[14]
The university's main campus is located on the northern slope ofMount Royal in theOutremont andCôte-des-Neiges boroughs. Its landmark Pavilion Roger-Gaudry (named for former rectorRoger Gaudry)—known until 2003 asPavillon principal[25]—can be seen from around the campus and is known for its imposing tower. It is built mainly in theArt Deco style with some elements ofInternational style and was designed by noted architectErnest Cormier. On 14 September 1954, a Roll of Honour plaque on the wall at the right of the stairs to the Court of Honour in Roger-Gaudry Pavillon was dedicated to alumni of the school who died in while in the Canadian military during the Second World War.[26] In November 1963, a memorial plaque was dedicated to the memory of those members of the Université de Montréal who served in the Armed Forces during the First and Second World Wars and Korea.[27] The Mont-Royal campus is served by theCôte-des-Neiges,Université-de-Montréal, andÉdouard-Montpetitmetro stations.
The J.-Armand-Bombardier Incubator[28] is among buildings jointly erected by the Université de Montréal andPolytechnique Montréal. The incubator is part on the main campus of Université de Montréal and was built in the fall of 2004 with the aim of helping R&D-intensive startup companies by providing complete infrastructures at advantageous conditions. The environment helps promote collaboration between industries and academics while encouraging Quebecentrepreneurship. Since its creation the Incubator has hosted more than fifteen companies, mainly in the biomedical field, in the field of polymer/surface treatment, in optics/photonics (likePhoton etc.) and in IT security (likeESET).
Apart from its main Mont-Royal campus, the university also maintains five regional facilities inTerrebonne,Laval,Longueuil,Saint-Hyacinthe andMauricie.[30] The campus in Laval, just north of Montréal, was opened in 2006. It is Laval's first university campus and is located in the area near theMontmorency metro station and opposite toCollège Montmorency. In October 2009, the university announced an expansion of its Laval satellite campus with the commissioning of the six-storey Cité du Savoir complex.[31] The Mauricie campus in the city ofTrois-Rivières is known for its association with theUniversité du Québec à Trois-Rivières (UQTR) and as a satellite campus for the university's faculty of medicine. To solve the problem of lack of space on its main campus, the university is also planning to open a new campus inOutremont, known as the MIL campus.[32]
The science building at Campus MIL, while it is still under construction in April 2019
The university's master plan includes the construction of new institutional spaces in the borough of Outremont, Montreal. The campus accessible by two metro stations (Outremont and Acadie), will include teaching and research rooms. The premises are built in accordance with LEED eco-certification.The MIL campus (which derives its name from "Milieu", which means middle in French[33]) has been under construction since 2016.[34] At the centre of the campus lies the Science Complex, which opened in 2019.
The opening of the MIL Campus generated controversy and attracted criticism from various community organizations in Parc-Extension, one of the poorest boroughs in Montreal.[35] In the fall of 2019, the opening of the campus was disrupted by the Parc-Extension Action Committee (CAPE) to denounce the increasing number of tenants who are evicted from their apartments to make more units available for students in the borough.[36] More recently, these organizations claimed that the arrival of the campus has encouraged a significant increase in evictions and rental prices in Parc-Extension.[35]Researchers from three Montreal universities – McGill University, Concordia University and Université du Quebec à Montreal – implemented the Parc-Extension anti-eviction mapping project in 2019, in collaboration with CAPE.[37] A report documenting the gentrification of Parc-Extension was published in June 2020 by the Parc-Extension anti-eviction mapping project and the CAPE. The authors conclude that the average rent for two-bedroom apartment ads between February and May 2020 was almost twice the estimates made by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in October 2019.[38][39] Organizations have also criticized the Université de Montréal for excluding the construction of student residences from the master plan of the new campus.[38]
The Université de Montréal is a publicly funded research university and a member of theAssociation of Universities and Colleges of Canada.[40] Undergraduate students make up the majority of the university community, accounting for 74 per cent of the university student body, whereas graduate students account for 24 per cent of the student body.[41] The university presently has 66,768 students (including students from affiliated institutionsHEC Montréal andPolytechnique Montréal). More than 9,500 university students are international students, while another 8,000 are consideredpermanent residents of Canada.[41] From the 1 June 2010 to the 31 May 2011, the university conferred 7,012 bachelor's degrees, 461 doctoral degrees, and 3,893 master's degrees.[4]
Depending on a student's citizenship, they may be eligible for financial assistance from the Student Financial Assistance program, administered by the provincialMinistry of Education, Recreation and Sports, and/or theCanada Student Loans and Grants through the federal and provincial governments. The university's Office of Financial Aid acts as intermediaries between the students and the Quebec government for all matters relating to financial assistance programs.[42] The financial aid provided may come in the form of loans, grants, bursaries, scholarships fellowships and work programs.
Université de Montréal has consistently been ranked in a number of university rankings. In the 2022Academic Ranking of World Universities, the university ranked 101–150 in the world and sixth in Canada.[43] The 2023QS World University Rankings ranked the university 116th in the world and fifth in Canada.[44] The 2023Times Higher Education World University Rankings placed the university 111th in the world, and fifth in Canada.[45] InU.S. News & World Report 2022–23 global university rankings, the university placed 156th in its world rankings, and sixth in Canada.[47] InMaclean's 2023 Canadian university rankings, the university was ranked 10th in their Medical-Doctoral university category.[48] The university was ranked in spite of having opted out from participation in Maclean's graduate survey since 2006.[50]
Université de Montréal also placed in a number of rankings that evaluated the employment prospects of graduates. In QS's 2022 graduate employability ranking, the university ranked 191–200 in the world, and eighth in Canada.[51] In the Times Higher Education's 2022 global employability ranking, the university's graduate business school, HEC Montréal, placed 63rd in the world, and fourth in Canada.[46]
4101Sherbrooke Street houses the university's Plant Biology Research Institute.
Université de Montréal is a member of theU15, a group that represents 15 Canadian research universities. The university includes 465 research units and departments.[41] In 2018, Research Infosource ranked the university third in their list of top 50 research universities, with a sponsored research income (external sources of funding) of $536.238 million in 2017.[52] In the same year, the university's faculty averaged a sponsored research income of $271,000, while its graduates averaged a sponsored research income of $33,900.[52]
Since 2017, Université de Montréal has partnered withMcGill University onMila, a research institute and community of professors, students, industrial partners and startups working in AI; with over 500 researchers, the institute is the world's largest academic research center fordeep learning. The institute was originally founded in 1993 by ProfessorYoshua Bengio.[55]
The school's two main student unions are theFédération des associations étudiantes du campus de l'Université de Montréal (FAÉCUM), which represents all full-time undergraduate and graduate students, and the Association Étudiante de la Maîtrise et du Doctorat de HEC Montréal (AEMD), which defends the interests of those enrolled in HEC Montréal.[56][57] FAÉCUM traces its lineage back to 1989, when the Fédération étudiante universitaire du Québec (FEUQ) was founded, and is currently the largest student organization in Québec.[58] Accredited organizations and clubs on campus cover a wide range of interests ranging from academics to cultural, religion and social issues. FAÉCUM is currently associated with 82 student organizations and clubs.[59] Fourfraternities and sororities are recognized by the university's student union:Sigma Thêta Pi, Nu Delta Mu, Zeta Lambda Zeta, and Eta Psi Delta.[60]
Ice hockey is one of several sports programs run by theCarabins.
The university's student population operates a number of news media outlets. TheQuartier Libre is the school's main student newspaper.[61]CISM-FM is an independently owned radio station of the students of the Université de Montréal and operated by the student union.[62] The radio station dates back to 1970; it received a permit from theCanadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) on 10 July 1990 to transmit on an FM band. On 14 March 1991, CISM's broadcasting antenna was boosted to 10 000 watts. With a broadcasting radius of 70 km, CISM is now the world's largest French-language university radio station.[63] TheCFTU-DT television station also receives technical and administrative support from the student body.[64]
Université de Montréal's sports teams are known as theCarabins. The Carabins participate in theU Sports'Réseau du sport étudiant du Québec (RSEQ) conference for most varsity sports. Varsity teams include rugby, badminton, Canadian football, cheerleading, golf, hockey, swimming, alpine skiing, soccer, tennis, track and field, cross-country, and volleyball.[65] The athletics program at the university dates back to 1922.[66] The university's athletic facilities is open to both its varsity teams and students. The largest sports facility is theCentre d'éducation physique et des sports de l'Université de Montréal (CEPSUM), which is also home to all of the Carabin's varsity teams.[67] The CEPSUM's building was built in 1976 in preparation for the1976 Summer Olympics held in Montréal. The outdoor stadium of the CEPSUM, which hosts the university's football team, can seat around 5,100 people.[67]
^The university's main campus and administration is based at 2900, boulevard Édouard-Montpetit, Montreal, Quebec. In addition to the campus on boulevard Édouard-Montpetit, the institution also operates several other campuses in Montreal, Laval, Lanaudière, Longueuil, and Saint-Hyacinthe.[6]
^As with most Francophone post-secondary institutions in Quebec, the university does not have an official name in English, with the institution using the nameUniversité de Montréal to refer to itself in both languages. However, several publications have used the nameUniversity of Montreal to refer to the institution.
^"Publicité de la Northmount Land".1698–1998 CÔTE-DES-NEIGES AU FIL DU TEMPS (in French). La société du troisième centenaire de la Côte-des-Neiges 1698–1998. July 6, 2000. Archived fromthe original on July 2, 2004. RetrievedJanuary 9, 2012.
^"Université de Montréal" (in French). Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada. 2012. Archived fromthe original on February 21, 2012. RetrievedMarch 8, 2012.
^abc"In figures". Université de Montréal. 2019. RetrievedMarch 12, 2019.
^John, Wilson (2005).Pakistan's nuclear underworld: an investigation. Saṁskṛiti in association with Observer Research Foundation. p. 88.ISBN81-87374-34-9.
^"Jocelyn Faubert". Université de Montréal. 2010. Archived fromthe original on March 19, 2012. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2012.
^Adu-Febiri, Francis; Everett, Ofori (2009).Succeeding from the Margins of Canadian Society: A Strategic Resource for New Immigrants, Refugees and International Students. CCB Publishing. p. 8.ISBN978-1-926585-27-7.
^abLevine, Allan Gerald (1989).Your Worship: the lives of eight of Canada's most unforgettable mayors. James Lorimer & Company. p. 152.ISBN1-55028-209-3.
^"Robert BOURASSA" (in French). Assemblee Nationale de Quebec. April 2009. RetrievedFebruary 23, 2012.