The Colonie de vacances des Grèves (English: "Des Grèves Vacation Camp"), established in 1912, is the oldest vacation camp still in operation in Quebec and French-Canada.Book "L'oeuvre de vacances des Grèves au Cap de la Victoire pour les écoliers de Montréal” (The Grèves au Cap de la Victoire holiday work for Montreal schoolchildren), 1916, by Édouard Gouin, priest of Saint-Sulpice.Book “Pour nos enfants" (For our children) - Les Garderies d'enfants, 1930, Montreal: L’École sociale populaire (The Popular Social School), Secretariat of the É.SP: 1930, by Sisters Marie-Hadelin and Marie-Clairina of the Franciscan Missionaries of Mary Religious, indicates that the Grèves Vacation Colony was created in 1912.Article “900 enfants par jour sont accueillis à la Colonie des Grèves” (900 children per day are welcomed at the Colonie des Grèves), newspaper La Seigneurie, May 17 to 23, 1970, p. 7. Today, this colony is renowned as the largest French-speaking summer camp still in operation in North America.Official site of the Colonie des Grèves.

This family and children's holiday camp is located at Cap de la Victoire, on the south-eastern shore of the St. Lawrence River, in the First Concession, in the town of Contrecoeur, in the regional county municipality (MRC) of Marguerite-D'Youville Regional County Municipality, in the administrative region of Montérégie, in province of Quebec, in Canada.

Mission

The first mission of this vacation camp was to provide children from economically weak and less fortunate backgrounds in Montreal with the means to have a healthy recreation in the great outdoors and enjoy a beneficial vacation. The camp allows children to be introduced to different sports, plastic arts, crafts, etc., under the supervision of qualified instructors. The objective was to flee the disease of cities where tuberculosis was rife that medical science could not fight effectively.Article "A story so close! When misfortune becomes happiness!", by Antoine-Michel Le Doux, Le Sentier newspaper, Saint-Hippolyte community newspaper, January 28, 2020.

In 1921, the motto of the Colony was in Latin: “Mens sana in corpore sano” (A healthy mind in a healthy body).Journal Le Devoir, July 30, 1921, p. 2.

Today, the mission of the Colonie des Grèves de Contrecoeur is to offer all children, regardless of their economic situation, a place of leisure and culture where they can fully develop and flourish. Thus, the camp offers a range of services related to the field of recreation for families and young people, even in groups. The camp officially conveys the fundamental values: respect for oneself, for others and for one's environment, cooperation and empowerment.

"Des Grèves Vacation Colony" is accredited by the "Association des Camps du Québec" (Quebec Camps Association).

Activities and services offered

The Colonie des Grèves offers: a special program of activities during spring break (usually late February or early March); a summer day camp program for children aged 5 to 12, including entertainment and day care; group and family accommodation; outdoor activities, as 30,000 people per year walk the trails of the Grèves regional park for walking, snowshoeing or cross-country skiing; general public activities; the rental of rooms as a place for meetings and reunions, such as weddings, family celebrations, work meetings, holiday party.

In winter, the camp offers access to the Parc régional des Grèves (English: Des Grèves Regional Park), for sporting activities such as cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sliding, walking, a mini farm and an ice rink. The camp also offers tube sliding with sliding corridors.

The camp management decreed in March 2020 the suspension of camp activities for an indefinite period, following the imposition of health measures by the government of Quebec as part of the fight against the global pandemic of Coronavirus COVID-19. Consequently, the summer 2020 program only included day camps, in addition to municipal programs, in particular a camp for 4-year-olds, a camp specializing in sailing and, alternately, a natural science camp, survival in the forest. and life-size. In addition, the musical camps of the Chasse-galerie and the end of summer camps have been back.Article “A 100% summer day camps at Grèves de Contrecœur”, La relay, July 7, 2020, page M14.

Customers

In 1925, the number of small settlers rose to 693, divided into two contingents: that of July and that of August.Article “The work accomplished by the conferences of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul in Montreal”, Le Devoir newspaper, July 26, 1926, p. 2 and 4.

For the summer of 1929, the colony had 935 registrations and 72,000 meals served. It maintains seven holiday camps with thirteen vast buildings.Article "La Fédération des oeuvres sociales de santé" (English: The Federation of Social Health Services), Le Devoir newspaper, April 15, 1930, p. 1, mentioning the launch of the second subscription campaign.

In 1936, the Camp des Grèves welcomed 2,000 boys for its outdoor activities. This holiday camp was then financially supported by the "Fédération des Œuvres de Charité Canadiennes-Françaises" (Federation of French Canadian Charities), which held a fundraising campaign every spring.Journal L’Illustration Nouvelle, April 13, 1937, p. 9.

Before leaving for the colony, each "settler" was weighed at the École Normale Jacques Cartier, and upon his return; The objective was to assess the colon's weight gain during his stay at the colony, which was considered a guarantee of physical health at the time. At the time, from Longueuil, the train was the most convenient means of transport for settlers (campers) and staff, calling for a stop at Cap de la Victoire.

The Colonie de Vacances des Grèves was reserved for boys, at least until 1956. Since the summer of 1967, the Colonie des Grèves has welcomed 900 children (boys and girls) per day at the summer day camp. They are transported daily by bus. This day camp was then reserved for children from low-income families living in parishes located near the Jacques-Cartier, Victoria, Champlain and Tunnel H.-Lafontaine bridges. This summer program was then subsidized by the Federation of French-Canadian Charities.

Throughout its history, this summer camp has been especially dedicated to children from underprivileged backgrounds in the Montreal region. From 1995 to 2000, the colony opened to residents of the Sorel - Contrecoeur region.

Since at least 1995, the colony has been organizing an open house every spring to publicize the staff, the site, the equipment, the type of accommodation and the activity areas of the camp.Journal Le Soleil, March 5, 1995, p. 2, Supplement 1, "Vacation camps" booklet, advertising report.

Owner

In 1915, the Sulpician community adopted the Colony. A company was incorporated by letters patent, under the presidency of Monsignor Georges Gauthier. In 1915, the colony's postal address was: Cap de la Victoire, parish of Saint-Roch du Richelieu. The administrative headquarters are at the École Normale Jacques Cartier, Parc Lafontaine, Montreal.

The “Colonie de vacances des Grèves” is a non-profit organization founded on April 13, 1933 under the Law on Recreation Clubs; this entity will operate until May 30, 2008.

At the same time, the “Domaine des Pins” was established in 1979. The "Domaine des Pins de Contrecoeur" was registered on February 13, 1995 until May 30, 2008, as a non-profit organization. The two entities merged under a new entity called “Colonie de vacances des Grèves” which was registered under part 3 of the Companies Act on May 30, 2008 in the Quebec enterprise register.

This new non-profit organization owns the building where the camp is located and operates it as a summer camp. According to the register, the Greves Vacation Colony offers leisure & cultural activities for young people, and leisure & hotel activities for families.Quebec Business Register. This organization is headed by a board of directors.

Sponsors

Since its founding, the activities, infrastructures and buildings of the Colony of Grèves have been financed thanks to: various fundraising activities, especially in Montreal, such as church collections, plays, concerts...; excursions (by train and / or boat) especially from Montreal and to the colony; grants from the Commission scolaire de Montréal, and large charitable organizations.

In 1926, the colonists generally did not pay a pension and benefited from the aid granted by various institutions, such as the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, the City of Montreal, the Montreal Catholic School Commission, the Bruchési Institute and various specific organizations.Article "Colonie de vacances des Grèves", L'Action populaire newspaper, September 9, 1926, p. 4.

In the 1930s, the main organizations subsidizing the Colony of Grèves were the "Fédération des Oeuvres sociales de santé" (English: Federation of Social Health Works) and the "Fédération des Oeuvres de charité canadienne-française" (English: Federation of French Canadian Charities). The latter was merged in 1966 with other organizations to form Centraide Montreal, which continued to subsidize the colony.

The Cercle social Ville-Marie was founded in 1935 in Montreal with the mission of financing the "Les Grèves" holiday camp. From 1936 to 1942, the financial support of this social circle allowed the erection of the Souvenir pavilion (renamed Pavillon Père-Savignac), the Saint-Jean, SS.-Anges, Sainte-Jeanne d'Arc, Saint-Joseph dormitories and Saint-Jean Baptiste, a summer kitchen for the guardian and a "Solitude" for the seminarian-supervisors. In 1943, this funding allowed the construction of a "wash house", the improvement of the Kiwanis kitchen and the ornamentation of the chapel.Journal Le Devoir, August 31, 1943, p. 10, article "L'oeuvre accomplie par le Cercle social Ville-Marie" (English: The work accomplished by the Cercle social Ville-Marie), taking stock of the organization for the period from 1936 to 1942.

Since the 1990s, Quebec vacation camps have been subsidized by the Quebec government, via the Ministry of Education, Recreation and Sports for the operating and immobilization components. In 1995, the camp was also subsidized by Centraide and the Ministry of Municipal Affairs.

Buildings and infrastructures

In 1926, the installations of the Greves colony included a chapel, a seminary where the ecclesiastics lived, a refectory for the supervisors and one for the colonists, as well as five dormitories where the children slept in double beds (like a boat bed).

In 1978, the colony could accommodate up to 626 people in the camp at the same time, including 126 members of staff, monitors, cooks, maintenance and administration workers.Article "Près de la capitale de l’acier, 500 enfants dans la nature" (Near the capital of steel, 500 children in nature), by Germain Tardif, photographer: Réal St-Jean, newspaper La Presse, August 15, 1978, Cahier Rive-Sud, p. 10.

In 2020, the Grèves Vacation Colony can accommodate up to 170 people in seven chalets, two inns or the 40-person Robert-Moore dormitory located in the main lodge. Auberge Édouard-Gouin can accommodate up to 23 people and has 14 rooms. Auberge Édouard-Gagnon can accommodate up to 44 people and has seven rooms for six people. It can accommodate groups of up to 200 people. This colony offers five meeting rooms for rent, with or without meal service.

In 1975, the colony covered approximately .Article “Le ministre Phaneuf enchanté de sa visite à la colonie « Les Grèves »" (Minister Phaneuf delighted with his visit to the "Les Grèves Vacation Colony”), by Louis Farly, Le Nouvelliste, August 12, 1975.

Regional Park of Grèves