Our History in Brief

The School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) began in Bavaria, Germany in 1833, under the leadership of Blessed Theresa of Jesus Gerhardinger. 

Impelled by their love for God and God's people, they sought through education to help remedy the social ills of the times partly caused by the Napoleonic wars.  The order quickly grew and, by the time of Mother Theresa's death in 1879, there were more than 2,500 SSNDs ministering in 11 countries in Europe and North America. For more information about the roots of the congregation, we invite you to visit our international website.

In 1847, Mother Theresa and five SSNDs extended the mission of the congregation into the United States to provide education for German immigrant children.  In 1871, an invitation to assist in the orphanage in St. Agatha, Ontario brought the School Sisters of Notre Dame to Canada.  The number of Canadian missions grew. By 1927, the SSND ministry in Canada had spread into the West where they opened a boarding school in Leipzig, Saskatchewan. 

The number of women seeking admission to the congregation also grew. As a result, in 1927, the Canadian Motherhouse was built in Waterdown, Ontario, and the Canadian Province became an administrative unit of the congregation.  

Although there are fewer Sisters in formal education today, the focus remains on education in its broadest sense, enabling people - especially persons who are poor, women and children - to reach the full potential for which God created them.  Our education ministry continues in schools at all levels (elementary, high school, university and adult education), in parish ministry, catechetics, counselling and spiritual direction; in social justice work, the ministry of prayer and presence, and in community leadership.

The Canadian Province of the School Sisters of Notre Dame has missions outside Canada including Africa, England, Italy, Peru and the USA.  In Canada, we have Sisters in British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, Manitoba, Ontario and the Northwest Territories.  Our Sisters continue to minister and live in the spirit of Blessed Mother Theresa - educating women, children and persons who are poor in every sense of the word. 

The Beginnings in Canada

Mother Caroline Friess, superior of the School Sisters of Notre Dame in North America, was invited by Rev. Eugene Funcken CR to send Sisters to the orphanage in St. Agatha, Ontario. 

The Motherhouse

The Motherhouse was built in 1927 upon the Niagara escarpment, just outside of Hamilton in Ontario. 

Western Missions

In 1927, a boarding school in rural Leipzig, Saskatchewan was built.  This was the beginning of a continuous and blessed SSND presence in western Canada, providing opportunities for education in isolated rural areas. Sisters ministered at Leipzig for 50 years.

Northern Missions

In the 1970s and 80s, other missions were opened in native areas, including Nakina, Beardmore, Pine Point, Dryden, Fort Smith, Fort Resolution, Sioux Narrows and Grassy Narrows. 

England

After lengthy negotiations with the clergy, Mother Theresa accompanied six Sisters to Whitechapel, London, England in 1864 to teach the German and Irish immigrant children.

South America

In 1961, in response to Pope Paul VI's request to religious congregations to send missionaries to Latin America, four Sisters from the Canadian Province went to Bolivia. 

Africa

At present, one Canadian Sister works with other SSNDs, both native African and from the United States, as headmistress of a secondary school in Kiptere, Kenya.