50th Anniversary Timeline

In honour of the College’s 50th anniversary, we look back on the history of Champlain Saint-Lambert.

1967 – An Ad Hoc committee of four people was set up by Ian Campbell, Dean of Arts at Bishop’s University to explore the feasibility of if an English Cegep in the Eastern Townships. At the same time, the South Shore University Women’s Club formed a committee to study the problems of collegial education for English-language students in the area immediately south of the St. Lawrence. 

April 1968A regional planning committee was formed by parents, teachers, school and university associations of the South Shore area of the Montreal region. 

January 1969 – The committee prepared a brief for the Department of Education requesting the establishment of an English-language Cegep on the South Shore for an estimated enrolment on 2,000 students.  

December 1970 – The Eastern Townships committee decided to call an informal meeting with representatives of the South Shore group to discuss the idea of forming a Regional College proposed by the Education Department. The two sides agreed to the regional structure on the condition that there would be no further delay. 

Champlain sign

April 1971 – Letters patent received by the Department of Education and signed by the Lt. Governor of the province announced that Champlain Regional College had come into existence. 

April 1971 – Plans for a Saint-Lambert campus are announced.

April 1972 – a referendum is held at the city of Saint-Lambert to decide whether or not to rezone the land along the Saint-Lawrence Seaway for use by Champlain College. The referendum is successful with 1,002 citizens voting in favour and 710 voting against.

July 1972 – Champlain Saint-Lambert secures space for classes and offices at Royal George High School in Greenfield Park and a Motor Vehicle Licensing office at 110 Greene Street in Saint-Lambert.

September 1972 – Champlain College Saint-Lambert was established with the acquisition of 21 acres of land (8 in St. Lambert and 13 in Longueuil) along the St. Lawrence Seaway.

September 1973 – The first edition of the student newspaper, The Bugle, is published.

1974 – The first block of the building (A Block) was completed.

1974 – Saint-Lambert holds its first Open House.

October 1976 – The official inauguration of the completed Saint-Lambert college grounds was held in October. The architect was Andre Brouillet.

September 1986 – Champlain welcomes the first cohort of tourism students.

Pictured: Students in Florida in Fall 1988 with teacher Mark Langlois. Photo submitted by Lorelie Bouchard. 

1990 – Plans are announced for an expansion of the building.

1991 – Champlain Saint-Lambert gets a 40,000 foot expansion. The project created space for the Visual Arts Program, more study space and an expanded cafeteria area.

Nov. 1991 – Champlain Saint-Lambert hosts the first ever Intercollegial Development Day, inviting teachers from John Abbott, Marianopolis, Dawson and Vanier to join together for a pedagogical enrichment day.

April 1993 – Champlain Saint-Lambert celebrates its 20th anniversary. They marked the milestone with a tree planting ceremony.

1998 – Champlain College became a shelter for citizens during the ice storm.

May 2002 – The Champlain Saint-Lambert Weight Room is renamed in honour of Physical Education teacher Emil Muller.

2003 – The library was renamed in honour of George Wallace who retired that year after 27 years as the Campus Director.

2005 – The Riverside School Board and Champlain College collaborate to start the Adam’s Pace program. The Adam’s Pace Program is a community-based program for young adults with developmental disabilities. The program is named after Adam Taylor, the first student admitted to the program.

2006 –The Cavaliers football program is created.

2007 – Champlain wins its 1st CCAA National Championship as the Men’s Soccer Team defeats Algonquin College in a penalty shootout at Trent University.  The Final game was started in Nova Scotia and stopped due to a snowstorm with the replay taking place in Ontario.

2010 – The Student Access Center (SAC) comes to be in room F147 with an exam room and tutoring services. The SAC now works with over 350 students..

2010– Champlain Saint-Lambert announces creation of a Nursing Program.

2011 – Work to build a new wing to create space for the Nursing program and Continuing Education begins.

2014 – The library and cafeteria expansion project started in October 2013 and the space opened to the students in the fall of 2014.

2016 – Founding of the Indigenous Student Ambassadors and the College’s decolonization efforts.

2018 – Champlain Women’s Soccer team wins its first Women’s National Championship

September 2019 – Champlain Saint-Lambert becomes a constituent college of Champlain Regional College.  The move into Chapter 2 provisions for an expanded governance role for the communities served by each of the College’s constituent colleges.

2022 – Champlain Women’s Basketball Team wins provincial championship.

Aug 2022 – Champlain Saint-Lambert’s new Institutional Policy on the Evaluation of Student Learning (IPESL) comes into effect after a tremendous amount of work from committee members who developed the text before it was passed at the Commission of Studies and Champlain Governing Board.

May 2023 – Champlain caps off celebrating its 50th anniversary with an employee appreciation event, inauguration of a custom art piece and the burial of a student organized time capsule.

Search all information

Skip to content