History of the Collège
Visit this page to learn more about the history of the Collège des médecins du Québec.
The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Lower Canada was incorporated in 1847 and had 190 physicians. Dr. Daniel Arnoldi was the first president. Since 1847, the Collège's actions have been aimed at ensuring quality medical care for the public.
Throughout the social and scientific upheavals of the past 175 years, the Collège's raison d'être has remained essentially the same. To this day, the Collège continues to strive to do more to protect the public by ensuring quality care, in line with developments in medical practices.
See the timeline with the key events in the CMQ's history (in French only).
Who was Dr. Daniel Arnoldi?
A physician, civil servant and justice of the peace born in Montreal in 1774, Daniel Arnoldi was involved as early as 1830 in the attempts at reform that led to the creation of the Collège des médecins in 1847. Committed to the modernization of medical legislation, he was appointed president of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Lower Canada by the Governor on August 10, 1847. He died two years later during one of the terrible cholera epidemics.
The presidents of the Collège des médecins du Québec
| Daniel Arnoldi, M.D. 1847 - 1849 | Wolfred Nelson, M.D. 1849 - 1850 |
| Joseph Morrin, M.D. 1850 - 1853 | Andrew Fernando Holmes, M.D. 1853 - 1856 |
| Jean-Charles Frémont, M.D. 1856 - 1859 | Archibald Hall, M.D. 1859 - 1862 |
| William Marsden, M.D. 1862 - 1865 | Joshua Chamberlin, M.D. 1865 - 1868 |
| Jean-Étienne Landry, M.D. 1868 - 1871 | William E. Scott, M.D. 1871 - 1874 |
| Robert H. Russell, M.D. 1874 - 1877 | Jean-Philippe Rottot, M.D. 1877 - 1880 |
| Robert Palmer Howard, M.D. 1880 - 1883 | Charles-Eugène Lemieux, M.D. 1883 - 1886 |
| William Hales Hingston, M.D. 1886 - 1889 | John Jones Ross, M.D. 1889 - 1895 |
| Louis-Joseph-Alfred Simard, M.D. 1895 - 1898 | Emmanuel-Persillier Lachapelle, M.D. 1898 - 1907 |
| Louis-Philippe Normand, M.D. 1907 - 1914 | Arthur Simard, M.D. 1914 - 1918 |
| Rodolphe Boulet, M.D. 1918 - 1926 | Joseph-Édouard Bélanger, M.D. 1926 - 1930 |
| Pierre-Calixte Dagneau, M.D. 1930 - 1938 | Joseph-Émile Desrochers, M.D. 1938 - 1946 |
| Marc Trudel, M.D. 1946 - 1961 | Richard Vance Ward, M.D. 1961 - 1962 |
| Jean-Baptiste Jobin, M.D. 1962 - 1966 | Gustave Gingras, M.D. 1966 - 1972 |
| Jules Gosselin, M.D. 1972 - 1974 | Augustin Roy, M.D. 1974 - 1994 |
| Roch Bernier, M.D. 1994 - 1998 | Yves Lamontagne, M.D. 1998 - 2010 |
| Charles Bernard, M.D. 2010 - 2018 | Mauril Gaudreault, M.D. 2018 - |