Keys to History

In the 19th century, the teachers' mission was to teach young Canadians to read, write and count. They reigned over primary education, alongside the priests and nuns of the teaching religious congregations. However, lay teachers rarely taught in secondary schools, which were reserved for the affluent. In French Canada, classical colleges, directed by priests, were the only secondary educational institutions. In English Canada, grammar schools were gradually converted into high schools in the second half of the century. In 1870, the Protestant School Board of Montreal took over the administration of the Montreal High School for Boys, affiliated with McGill University. Five years later, the High School for Girls was set up. This would mark the beginning of public secondary education in Montreal. Lay teachers would be in the majority at the secondary level, which would undergo rapid development in the following century.

Source : Big Cities, New Horizons [Web tour], by Robert Gagnon, Université du Québec à Montréal (see Links)