Type | CEGEP |
---|---|
Established | 1969 |
Affiliation | Non-denominational |
Dean | Diane Gauvin |
Director General | Richard Filion |
Students | 11,000 |
Undergraduates | Pre-university students Technical college students |
Address |
3040 Sherbrooke Street West Westmount, Quebec H3Z 1A4, Westmount, Quebec, Canada 45°29′22″N 73°35′18″W / 45.489374°N 73.588298°WCoordinates: 45°29′22″N 73°35′18″W / 45.489374°N 73.588298°W |
Campus | Urban (4.85 hectares (12 acres)) |
Sports teams | Blues |
Colours | Blue and white |
Nickname | Blues |
Affiliations | ACCC, CCAA, QSSF, CUSID, CUP. |
Website | www.dawsoncollege.qc.ca |
Dawson College is an English-language Collège d’enseignement général et professionnel (CEGEP) located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is situated near the heart of downtown Montreal in a former nunnery on approximately 12 acres of green space. It is the largest CEGEP in the province of Quebec, with a student population of approximately 8,000 day students and 3,000 evening students enrolled in more than 30 fields of study.
A satellite campus called Sir William Dawson College was established at the Royal Canadian Air Force base in St. John (now Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu), Quebec in September 1945 by McGill University. This first incarnation of the college was set up to handle the overflow registration of servicemen after the Second World War. Populated mainly by engineering and science students who were required to live onsite, the college operated for five years. It was named after Sir William Dawson, a principal of McGill University from 1855 to 1893.
After the General Vocational College Act came into effect in June 1967, Dawson College became the first English-language institution in the new CEGEP network. It opened its doors in September 1969 to 1,655 students. The college was originally housed in a converted pharmaceutical factory at 350 Selby Street in Westmount. In 1970, a second campus, used mostly for Creative Arts programs, was opened on Viger Street just to the north of Old Montreal. During the next few years, additional spaces were rented across the city such as 4333 Ste. Catherine (Continuing Education), the Show Mart at Berri (gym), Dome Theatre on Notre Dame St., the Richelieu Building at 990 du Couvent and the La Fontaine building on Sherbrooke Street East. Finally, in 1975, the Victoria Campus was added at 485 McGill St..
In August 1982, the College signed an agreement to acquire the Mother House of the Sisters of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame in order to unify its fourteen separate locations. The campus opened in 1988, but full consolidation only happened in 1997, when the Selby Campus was finally closed. Extensive renovations transformed the century-old building into an attractive, modern and well-equipped college, occupying an entire city block between de Maisonneuve Boulevard, Sherbrooke Street, Wood Avenue in Westmount and Atwater Street in Montreal. A new theatre space was added to the historic site in 2007 and the College was truly under one dome.