Concordia's roots
In 1974 Concordia grew out of a merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, two institutions with a proud history of providing education in Montreal.
Loyola
Loyola College grew out of the English-language program of Collège Sainte-Marie, a Jesuit college founded in 1848. Loyola College became a separate institution in 1896. Loyola was first located at Bleury and Ste-Catherine then on Drummond south of Ste-Catherine before it built on land it acquired in 1900 in the west end. The College moved into the three original buildings on the current Loyola Campus in 1916.
Loyola Campus under construction, 1915. On the left is the Refectory, and on the right is the Junior (now Psychology) Building. Photographer: F. J. Topp. Concordia University Archives I147-02-87
Sir George Williams
Sir George Williams University originated in the evening classes offered by a YMCA Educational Program that began in 1851 and continued in various YMCA facilities in downtown Monteal. The program became a co-educational college in 1926, introducing university-level courses in 1929. The first university degrees were conferred in 1936 and the University Charter under which Concordia currently grants degrees was received in 1948.
