The University of Manitoba was established in 1877 to confer degrees on
students graduating from its three founding colleges - St. Boniface College,
St. John's College, and Manitoba College. The University was the first to
be established in western Canada.
In 1900 the Manitoba legislature changed the University Act so that the
university could do its own teaching, and in 1904 a building in downtown
Winnipeg became the first teaching facility. By 1929, following the addition of more programs, schools, and faculties, the University had moved to its permanent home in
Fort Garry.
From its founding until the present time, the University has added a
number of colleges to its corporate and associative body. In 1882 the
Manitoba Medical College, which had originally been founded by some
practising physicians and surgeons, became a part of the University.
Other affiliations followed:
- Methodist Church's Wesley College in 1888
- Manitoba College of Pharmacy in 1902
- Manitoba Agriculture College in 1906
- St. Paul's College in 1931
- Brandon College in 1938
- St. Andrew's College, established to train the ministry for the
Ukrainian Greek Orthodox Church, became an affiliated College in 1981.
Both the Canadian Mennonite Bible College in Tuxedo, and the Canadian
Nazarene College in Fort Garry have been designated by the University
as approved teaching centres.
In 1967 two of the colleges that had been part of the University of
Manitoba were given university status by the provincial government.
United College, which had been formed by the merging of Wesley College
and Manitoba College, became the University of Winnipeg, and Brandon
College became Brandon University.
St. Boniface College and St. John's College, two of the founding colleges
of the University, are still part of the University of Manitoba. St. Boniface
College, the Roman Catholic institution which traces its beginnings back
to 1818 and the earliest days of the Red River settlement, is the University's
only French-speaking college; it offers instruction in French and
facilities for the training of teachers who expect to teach in the French
language. St. John's College, which dates back to 1820, offers instruction
in Arts and Science and amoung other special programs prepares men
and women for the ordained ministry of the Anglican Church.
Thirty-three of the many buildings on the Fort Garry campus of the
University of Manitoba are directly used for teaching. Four of these are
the homes of colleges: St. John's College, St. Paul's College, St. Andrew`s
College, and University College. The remaining buildings contain
special laboratories, administrative and service offices, residences,
or they belong to research agencies.
The second campus of the University comprises a complex of nine buildings
located west of the Health Sciences Centre between McDermot Avenue and
Bannatyne Avenue in Central Winnipeg. This complex houses the medical
and dental instructional units of the University. The Faculty of Dentistry,
the Faculty of Medicine, the School of Medical Rehabilitation, and the
School of Dental Hygiene are the major health sciences units located
on this campus.