Joseph-Norbert Provencher (February 12, 1787 – June 7, 1853) was a Canadian clergyman and missionary and one of the founders of the modern province of Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

. He was the first Bishop of Saint Boniface and was an important figure in the history of the Franco-Manitoban

Franco-Manitoban

Franco-Manitobans are a community of French Canadians and other French-speaking people living in Manitoba. Most Franco-Manitobans have roots in Quebec. However, many are of Métis and Belgian ancestry while others have ancestors that came directly from France, its former colonies and other...

 community.

Provencher was born in Nicolet, Quebec

Nicolet, Quebec

Nicolet, Quebec is the county seat of Nicolet-Yamaska Regional County Municipality, Quebec, Canada. The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 7,827...

 in 1787, and was ordained a priest

Priest

A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...

 in 1811. In 1818 he and two other priests were sent by Joseph-Octave Plessis

Joseph-Octave Plessis

Joseph-Octave Plessis was a Canadian Roman Catholic clergyman from Quebec. He was the first archbishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec after the diocese was elevated to the status of an archdiocese....

, Bishop of Quebec, to open a mission on the Red River

Red River of the North

The Red River is a North American river. Originating at the confluence of the Bois de Sioux and Otter Tail rivers in the United States, it flows northward through the Red River Valley and forms the border between the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota before continuing into Manitoba, Canada...

 in present-day Manitoba. Provencher's mission at Saint Boniface

Saint Boniface, Manitoba

Saint Boniface is a city ward of Winnipeg, home to much of the Franco-Manitoban community. It features such landmarks as the Cathédrale de Saint Boniface , Boulevard Provencher, the Provencher Bridge, Esplanade Riel, St. Boniface Hospital, the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface and the Royal...

 was highly successful; he baptized

Baptism

In Christianity, baptism is for the majority the rite of admission , almost invariably with the use of water, into the Christian Church generally and also membership of a particular church tradition...

 many of the local First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term that collectively refers to various Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor Métis. There are currently over 630 recognised First Nations governments or bands spread across Canada, roughly half of which are in the provinces of Ontario and British Columbia. The...

 and Métis

Métis people (Canada)

The Métis are one of the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who trace their descent to mixed First Nations parentage. The term was historically a catch-all describing the offspring of any such union, but within generations the culture syncretised into what is today a distinct aboriginal group, with...

 residents as well as many Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

an settlers. He was appointed Auxiliary Bishop of Quebec in 1819 and was consecrated Titular Bishop of Juliopolis

Juliopolis (titular see)

Juliopolis is a Catholic titular see in the province of Bithynia Secunda, suffragan of Nicaea. Its history is unclear.-History:The city was founded under the Emperor Augustus by a robber chieftain named Cleon, who was a native of the region; previously it had been called Gordoucome or...

 in 1822.

In 1844, Provencher was appointed head of the newly formed Vicariate Apostolic of North-West; when the Vicariate was elevated to the Diocese of Saint-Boniface, he was appointed its first bishop. He founded Saint-Boniface Cathedral and the school which is now known as the Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface

Collège universitaire de Saint-Boniface

The Université de Saint-Boniface, or USB, is a university college affiliated with the University of Manitoba and located in the Saint Boniface district of Winnipeg, Manitoba , Canada....

, and brought both the Grey Nuns

Grey Nuns

The Order of Sisters of Charity of Montreal, formerly called The Order of Sisters of Charity of the Hôpital Général of Montreal and more commonly known as the Grey Nuns of Montreal, is a Canadian order of Roman Catholic religious sisters...

 and the Oblate Fathers

Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate

The Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate is a missionary religious congregation in the Catholic Church. It was founded on January 25, 1816 by Saint Eugene de Mazenod, a French priest born in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France on August 1, 1782. The congregation was given recognition by Pope...

to the Canadian Northwest.

Bishop Provencher died in 1853 and was buried in Saint Boniface.