1843 The first Greeks arrive in Montreal

1905 Jan.25 The first congregation of the Greek Orthodox Church in Montreal is established.

1906 The Community is founded and the first Council is elected.

1906 Oct.25 The first religious service of the Greek Orthodox Church is held in Montreal.

1907 The Community is officially incorporated.

1909 Platon Greek Day School is established

1910 Dec.10 The first religious service is held at Evangelismos tis Theotokou Greek Orthodox Church. Situated at 753, boul. Saint-Laurent, Montreal, which was purchased by the Community.

1911 Apr.07 A building is purchased at 753-755, rue Clark to house Platon Greek School.

1912 The first Greek regional association, The Cretan Brotherhood of Montreal, is established.

1925 Jun.30 A church is purchased at 8 Sherbrooke Street West, Montreal, and transformed into Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.

1925 Jul.16 Socrates Anglo-Greek School is established.

1925 Sep.12 Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church is incorporated.

1925 Sep.14 The first Divine Liturgy is celebrated in the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.

1926 Mar.24 Socrates Anglo-Greek School and Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church merge and the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Congregation of Montreal is incorporated (Chapitre 99 of the Quebec National Assembly).

1927 The Hellenic Ladies Philanthropic League is established by the Community.

1931 Dec. 03 Evangelismos tis Theotokou merges into Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Congregation of Montreal.

1931 Dec.03 Platon and Socrates schools merge and operate from then on as Socrates Anglo-Greek School.

1941 June 1 The Holy Trinity Church is officially consecrated to the service of God by Archbishop Athenagoras, who was later ordained Patriarch of Constantinople.

1956 Feb. 02 The name of the Community is changed from The Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Congregation of Montreal to Hellenic Canadian Community of the Island of Montreal. Chapitre 99 is amended by Chapitre 152.

1956 Oct 24 The Community purchases a choice piece of land, 303,000 square feet for the price of $290,000 on the corner of Côte-Ste-Catherine and Wilderton, where St-George’s Cathedral and the Community Centre will be built.

1957 Mar. 18 The Board of Governors is elected by the General Assembly of the Community to proceed with the construction of these new buildings.

1959 May The Board of Governors of the Community is officially established and Chapitres 99 and 152 are amended to Chapitre 174.

1959 May The construction of St-George’s Cathedral commences at 2455 Côte-Sainte-Catherine, Montréal.

1962 Jan 06 The construction of St-George’s Cathedral is terminated and the church holds its first religious service.

1967 Jun. 29 Godin Building is purchased at 2116 St-Laurent Blvd, Montréal.

1968 Apr. 18 A church is purchased at 7700 rue de l’Epée, Montréal and transformed to Koimisis tis Theotokou Greek Orthodox Church.

1968 May 05 Koimisis tis Theotokou Greek Orthodox Church holds its first religious service.

1970 The school system Socrates Anglo-Greek School is named École élémentaire Socrates.

1971 Jan. 05 École élémentaire Socrates-Campus I starts operating at 275 rue Houde, Ville St- Laurent.

1971 Jan. 05 École St-Geroges de la Cathédrale starts operating at 2455 Côte-Ste-Catherine, Montréal.

1971 Jan. 14 The school building is purchased at 275 rue Houde, Ville St-Laurent to house École élémentaire Socrates – Campus I.

1971 Sep. The curriculum of the École élémentaire Socrates is changed from English, Greek and French, to French (62% of the program), Greek and English and the teaching time is augmented to 1750 minutes.

1972 Feb. École élémentaire Socrates is declared a school of “public interest” by the Ministère de l’Éducation du Québec.

1972 École d’enseignement Ménager Philothéi I Athinéa of the Community is established.

1971 The Department of Social Affairs of the Community is established.

1972 The Head Office of the Community moves to 2116 boul. St-Laurent.

1975 The Senior Citizens Clubs of the Community are established.

1975 Aug. 10 Église Grecque-Orthodoxe Evangelismos tis Theotokou at 777 St. Roch St, Montréal, holds its first religious service.

1975 Oct. 31 The Église Grecque-Orthodoxe Evangelismos tis Theotokou is purchased at 777 St. Roch, Montréal.

1977 The Community becomes a member of the Conseil du civisme de Montréal.

1977 Sep. 10 École St-Georges de la Cathédrale at 2455 Côte-Ste-Catherine, Montréal, merges with École élémentaire Socrates and the two operate from thereon as École élémentaire Socrates – Campus I at 275 rue Houde, Ville St-Laurent.

1978 Nov. 28 École élémentaire Socrates becomes an associate school with the Commission des écoles catholiques de Montréal.

1980 Jun. 18 The “Projet de Loi 231” (ch. 58, Assemblée nationale du Québec) is assented and, among other powers, it enacts, as follows:
a) Chapitres 99, 152 and 174 are amended
b) the name of the Community is changed from Hellenic Canadian Community of the Island of Monteal to Communauté hellénique de Montréal.
c) the abolition of the Board of Governors of the Community is confirmed.

1980 June The name of the École élémentaire Socrate is changed to École primaire Socrates.

1981 Sep. École secondaire Aristotelis of the Community is established.

1981 Oct. The Community’s Institut culturel hellénique is established.

1981 Nov. 01 The construction of the Centre hellénique communautaire de Montréal, at 5757 Wilderton, Montréal, commences.

1982 Aug. 13 A school building is purchased at 11, 11e rue Roxboro to house École primaire Socrates – Campus III, with 29 classrooms, a gymnasium, a library, offices and auxiliary areas.

1982 Sep. 01 The construction of the Centre hellénique communautaire de Montréal at 5757 avenue Wilderton, Montréal, is terminated. This complex, covering a total of 76000 square feet, includes École primaire Socrates – Campus II with 27 classrooms, gymnasium, cafeteria, Grande Salle, the Greek Library, 106 outside parking spaces.

1982 Sept. 01 École primaire Socrates – Campus II at 5757 avenue Wilderton commences operation.

1982 Sep. 01 École primaire Socrates – Campus III at 11, 11e rue, Roxboro, commences operation.

1982 Dec. 15 The Head Office of the Community moves to 5757 avenue Wilderton.

1982 The Community leads the establishment of the Hellenic Canadian Congress.

1982 The Montreal Institute of Hellenic Studies and Arcaeology is established.

1983 The first Day-care centre Foyer d’enfants is established at 275 rue Houde, Ville St-Laurent.

1983 McGill University, with the support and cooperation of the Hellenic Community of Montreal, establishes courses of the Greek History.

1983 The National Bank of Greece (Canada) names each President of the Community a member of its Board of Directors.

1983 The Community’s Centre d’ Études Grecques de Montréal is established.

1984 July The first stage for the unification of the Communauté hellénique de la Rive-Sud de Montréal with the Communauté hellénique de Montréal is initiated and the construction of the Centre hellénique Communautaire de la Rive-Sud at 5220 Grande Allée, St. Hubert, commences.

1984 Sep. The Community’s Centre de Sports, Santé and Loisirs de Montréal at 5757 Wilderton, Montréal is established.

1984 Oct. The construction of the Foyer hellénique pour personnes âgées at 5775 avenue Wilderton commences.

1985 July 1 The construction of the Foyer hellénique pour personnes âgées is terminated. It has seven floors and contains 80 apartments: 5 studios, 50 of 3 ½, 5 of 3 ½ handicapped, 20 of 4 ½, office space on the ground floor for the Head Office of the Community and 29 inside (garage) parking spaces. (Total 80,000 sq.ft.).

1985 Sep.15 École primaire Socrates – Campus IV at 5220 Grande Allée, St-Hubeert, commences operation.

1985 Sep.15 École hellénique Omeros of the Communauté hellénique de la Rive-Sud de Montréal merges with École hellénique Platon of our Community and is called École hellénique Platon-Omeros.

1985 Nov.15 The Head Office of the Community moves to 5777 avenue Wilderton. Its offices on St. Laurent were later on, in 1988, converted into a day-care center for 46 children.

1986 Aug.15 The Construction of the Centre hellénique communautaire de la Rive-Sud is completed at 5220 Grande Allée, St-Hubert. This complex covering a total of 47,000 sq.ft. includes École primaire Socrates – Campus IV with 18 classrooms, library, gymnasium, offices of the South Shore Region, Église St-Jean Baptiste, 130 outside parking spaces.

1986 Jan.16 The Église Sainte-Trinité at 8 Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal, is destroyed by fire.

1986 July 01 The unification of the Communauté hellénique de Montréal and the Communauté hellénique de la Rive-Sud de Montréal is completed and from now on is called Communauté hellénique de Montréal.

1986 The Association des finissants de l’ École primaire Socrates is established.

1986 The Youth Clubs of Rive-Sud and Montréal of the Community are established.

1986 The Centre hellénique communautaire de Montréal becomes the home of Les jeunes virtuoses de Montréal under the direction of Dr. Alexander Brott.

1987 The Hellenic Apollon Soccer Club of the Community is established and becomes a member of the Ligue nationale de soccer du Québec.

1987 The Community’s Centre de sports, santé et loisirs de la Rive-Sud at 5220- Grande Allée, St-Hubert, is established.

1987 Apr. The Community recommences the publishing of its monthly newspaper “KOINOTIKA NEA” or “Community News”.

1987 May 05 The Community leads the establishment of Congrès hellénique du Québec.

1987 Dawson College of Montreal, with the support and cooperation of the Hellenic Communiy of Montreal establishes the Centre for Hellenic Studies, which offers the following courses:
Ancient-Byzantine and Modern Greek History, Ancient and Modern Greek Language, Ancient Greek Literature and Drama, Ancient Greek Philosophy, Greek Geography and Greek Archaeology.

1987 Oct. 4 The Greek Minister of Culture, Melina Mercouri, who was accompanied by a group of Greek government officials, inaugurated the Hellenic Community Centre of Montreal. Because of this event, the first Greek Month in Canada, a series of cultural events and lectures, takes place in collaboration with the Greek Government and the Greek Organisations across Canada.

1987 Nov.17 The Young Greek Business People and Professionals Club is established.

1988 June 01 The second day-care centre Ta Pedakia for 46 children is established at the Centre hellénique communautaire de Montréal, 5757 avenue Wilderton, Montréal.

1988 The Community attends preliminary Conferences: Hartford, Connecticut, USA (February), Sydney, Australia (August) and West Germany (October) for the establishment of an international Centre for the coordination of the Hellenic Studies, the study of the Greek Diaspora and the promotion of the Greek culture and identity.

1988 Nov.17 The Montreal Institute for Greek Studies and Archaeology, with the support of the Community, collaborates with Canadian and Greek Universities for the organisation of the First International Conference of the Hellenic Diaspora from Antiquity till today, which takes place in Montreal and Athens. Part of the workshops of the Conference were held at our Hellenic Community Centre of Montreal.

1988 Dec,19-21 The Community attends in Rhodes, as one of the founders, the First Conference of the International Centre of the Greeks Abroad, which becomes a legal entity.

1989 Jan.27-29 The Community attends and establishes relations with the Conference of the Griechenland Stiftung (the Hellenic Institute) in West Germany.

1989 Mar.28 École primaire Socrates-Campus IV becomes an associate school with the Commission Scolaire Taillon de la Rive-Sud as well.

1989 May 05 The President of the HCM is the winner of the Prix des Communautés culturelles 1989 of the Quebec Government.

1989 May 09 The President of the HCM is the Personality of the week of the LA PRESSE newspaper.

1989 Oct.5-7 The Community attends and establishes relations with the 3rd Conference of the Hellenic Communities of Latin America, in Brazil.

1990 At a General Assembly on October 29, the Social Affairs committee by-law was amended to include a multi-disciplinary team approach. This framework will make it possible to address a variety of social service needs within our Community.

1991 Mar.27 Together with over ten other institutions of Heritage language and cultural classes, the HCM forms the Conseil des écoles de langue et de culture d’origine (C.E.L.C.O.)

1991 The third day-care centre of lthe Community Ilios is established at 11, 11e rue, in Roxboro, with the permit from the “Service de garde à l’enfance” and gets the preliminary financing.

1991 The Commission scolaire des Mille-Iles signs a letter of commitment for its association to the HCM after the obtention of the École primaire Socrates-Campus V operation permit.

1992 Two of our Social Services representatives got elected to the General Assembly of the Conseil régional de la santé et des services sociaux de la région du Montréal métropolitain (CRSSSMM), one of these members was also elected to the Board of Directors. This is significant, as the CRSSSMM sets health and social services priorities in the network, and we thus have an opportunity to be active for a period of three years.

1992 May 24 Within the frame of the celebrations for the 350th Anniversary of Montreal, the HCM organises an exhibition on the Cultural History of the Hellenic Community of Montreal.

1993 Mar.19 The fourth day-care centre of the Community Piloupi is established at 5220 Grande Allée, St-Hubert. Opening planned for September 1993.

1993 Mar.19 The fifth day-care centre of the Community Bambins lavallois is established at 931 Emerson drive, Chomedey. Opening is planned for September 1993.

1993 May 07 Opening at the Marché Bonsecours of the exhibition The Greek Civilisation – Macedonia – Kingdom of Alexander the Great, organised in cooperation with the Greek Government, the City of Montreal and the HCM.

1993 June 21 École primaire Socrates-Campus V obtains from the Quebec Ministry of Education its operation permit.

1994 Apr.21 CITATION FOR CITIZENSHIP awarded to the Hellenic Community of Montreal by the Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, Mr. Sergio Marchi. The award was presented by the Honourable Martin Cauchon.

1996-1997 In cooperation with the Archaeological Museum of Montreal (Pointe-Calliêre) the Hellenic Community of Montreal has organised an exhibition “CYPRUS-8000 years of history”.

2002 A second building in Laval on 1005 Pie X in Chomedey is purchased for the growing student population at Socrates V. It is referred to as the Socrates V Annex. The daycare “Bambins lavallois” also moves to this building.

2003 The Ministry of Education of Greece begins sending teachers to teach the Greek part of École primaire Socrates’ curriculum.

2003 Aug.01 The Annual Greek Cultural Festival “Hellenic Flame” begins in the Old Port of Montreal as part of the summer festivals of the city of Montreal.

2004 April    The Community Access Food Distribution Service, as it was called then, operates food bank, in the basement of Evangelismos Church where 43 Greek homes were on the registry that required help. 

2005 The construction of Habitation hellénique (7040 Hutchison, Montreal) is completed. This apartment building for self-supporting persons with special needs is operated by the HCM in cooperation with the City of Montreal.

2006 The Hellenic Community of Montreal celebrates its 100th Anniversary, a tribute to thousands of Greek Canadians who, since 1906, have worked hard to preserve the roots of Hellenism and to keep the values that unite us as Québecois and Canadians.

2007 September   The food bank  moved its activity to 821 Ogilvy.

2008 Agreements terminate between the Socrates and the schools boards. École primaire Socrates now operates as a fully fledged private academic institution.

2009 The HCM celebrates the anniversary of 100 years of Greek Education in Montreal. A true milestone, that only an exclusive handful of schools in Quebec are proud to be part of. This significant achievement has gone a long way in reinforcing the caliber of education and stamina that the school has provided from generation to generation.

2010 The Hellenic Community of Montreal is officially united with the Greek Orthodox Community of Laval into a new organisation under the name “Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal” with a 27-member Board of Directors and three Regional Councils. This new organisation now consists of: two trilingual daytime, primary schools (“Socrates” and “Démosthène”) in 6 campuses, 3 Complementary Education Schools (Aristotelis,Platon-Omeros and St- Nicholas), in 4 campuses, 6 churches, 6 daycare centres, 6 sports centres, 2 Youth Departments, Boy Scout and Girl Guide Troops and Social Services in the Montreal, Laval and South Shore areas.

 

2011 March   The Hellenic Social Services of Quebec opens its office in Laval.

2013 September   The Laval Food bank starts operating in the basement of Timios Stavros Church.

2015 February 9   The Ministère de l'éducation du Québec grants permit to the Hellenic Community of Greater Montreal to organise and operate a daily high school.

2015 April 13   Massive Fire tore through Koimisis Tis Theotokou Church.

2015 June 17   A Special General Assembly approves to rebuild Koimisis Tis Theotokou Church

2015 July    His Eminence Metropolitan Sotirios and HCGM President Nicholas T. Pagonis sign an Agreement which puts an end to the $600 payment made by parishioners directly to the Metropolis for holy sacraments held in HCGM Churches.

2016 August 14   Special service for the foundation of Panagitsa Church at De L'Epee & St. Roch in Park Extension, followed by annual procession celebrating the Dormition of The Holy Theotokos

2016 August 26   Historic Inauguration of the HCGM "Socrates-Démosthène" High School

2020  École Socrates-Démosthène obtains a permit from the Ministère de l'Éducation to offer 4-year-old preschool services on all campuses.

2022 École Socrates-Démosthène welcomes students to 4-year-old kindergarten under the MEQ program at all its campuses.