History of Dawson

Dawson College received its charter in 1968 with a mandate to establish Quebec’s first English-language CEGEP. On September 23, 1969, Dawson opened its doors to its first 1,500 students.

Many thousands have followed in their footsteps. Today, Dawson is the largest college in the network, with 10,000 full- and part-time students enrolled in more than 30 programs. A diversity of languages and cultures is represented among its students, faculty and staff, reflecting the multicultural character of Montreal itself.

Dawson has been marked by triumph and tragedy, by innovation and daring, and an indomitable spirit that persisted throughout its many campuses, rising to the challenges each generation handed down.

Throughout our history, but particularly since our move in 1988 to consolidate all our activities in the magnificent heritage building between Sherbrooke and De Maisonneuve at Atwater, we have gained the respect of the Montreal community as a valuable partner in education.

As a testament to our success, we can say with confidence that we have gone from strength to strength, posting growing percentages of students passing all their courses and seeing their programs through to graduation; these numbers represent rates well above the CEGEP network standard.