PROVENCHER, JOSEPH-NORBERT. - Missionary bishop, b. 12 Feb. 1787 at Nicolet, in Lower Canada, d. at St-Boniface on 7 June 1853. Ordained priest on 21 Dec. 1811, he spent his early years in the vicinity of Montréal. In 1818 he was entrusted with the ministry among the Catholic settlers of the Rivière-Rouge. Msgr. Giuseppe Ottavio Plessis, bishop of Québec, appointed him vicar general for the north-west.
On 1 Nov. 1818 P. inaugurated the first chapel for the Canadian and German settlers of St-Boniface. In the same year, following the instructions of Msgr. Plessis, he also opened the first school in the region. On 1 Feb. 1820 he was created titular bishop of Juliopolis and coadjutor for the Canadian north-west. Consecrated by Msgr. Plessis at Québec on 30 May 1822, he returned on 7 Aug. 1822 to St-Boniface, where until 1840 he had no more than 3 priests. He worked not only among the settlers and Métis, but also initiated the mission among the Indians; in 1844 he succeeded in obtaining the « Suore grigie » for the vicariate. Through the intervention of Msgr. Bourget of Montréal, he obtained the Oblates of Mary Immaculate for the mission of the north-west, separated on 16 Apr. 1844 from the diocese of Québec. On 25 Aug. 1845 the first two Oblates, Fr. Pietro Aubert and the subdeacon Alessandro Taché, arrived at St-Boniface. He opened the way for the Catholic Church in western and northern Canada.