Université Laval
public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada
Université Laval is a public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Université Laval traces its roots to the Séminaire de Québec, which was founded by François de Montmorency-Laval in 1663. Université Laval is the oldest institution of higher education in Canada, as well as the first North American institution to offer higher education in French. It is ranked among the top 10 Canadian universities in research funding and holds four Canada Excellence Research Chairs.
The Université Laval was originally founded in Old Québec, although it moved to a new campus in the 1950s, located in the suburb of Sainte-Foy. Since Quebec City was amalgamated with many of its suburbs in 2001, the University has been located in Quebec City. At present, Université Laval is located in the suburban borough of Sainte-Foy–Sillery–Cap-Rouge in Quebec.
History
The university's beginnings go back to 1663 with the founding of the Grand Séminaire de Québec and 1668 with the founding of the Petit Séminaire by François de Montmorency-Laval, a member of the House of Laval and the first Bishop of New France.
During the French regime, the institution mainly trained priests to serve in New France. After the Conquest of 1760, the British expanded education in Canada to include the liberal arts.
The public source identifies “Université Laval” as public research university in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Université, Laval and public.
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Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 3, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1067935. VIAF identifies the subject as 158301808. The Library of Congress control number is n79079399. Authority coordinates are 46.780, -71.275. 2 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1663, 2001, 1668 and 1760.
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This entry incorporates text from “Université Laval” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.