Catholic churches are rapidly disappearing in Quebec

"All the parishes in Quebec are at the end of their tether” says Luc Noppen, an architectural historian in the mostly French-speaking Canadian province.

“Three or four times a day, we learn of the closure of one or another. This has consequences for the fate of all the churches," he warns. 

Noppen says he can’t remember there ever being such a rapid decline.

Quebec boasted of 2,746 churches in 2003. But since then, 713 have been destroyed, closed or converted, according to the province's religious heritage council.

The Archdiocese of Quebec City is also seeing an acceleration of this phenomenon.

Valérie Roberge-Dion, the archdiocesan communications director, says this is "due to the decrease in the number of Catholics, our resources, and the increase in maintenance costs". 

A decline that dates back to the 1980s

Church buildings in Quebec are owned by local corporations managed by the parishioners. 

But there has been a severe decline in Church membership, a crisis that dates back to the 1980s.

"The dioceses saw that there were fewer and fewer people attending Mass, and therefore less revenue, and closed churches," explains Noppen, the architectural historian. 

In Quebec, 14% of those surveyed participate in a group religious activity at least once a month, compared to nearly half in 1985, according to Statistiques Canada. 

As a result, churches have been closed or sold. 

Noppen points angrily to what happened in Quebec City to Saint-Cœur-de-Marie Church, "a jewel" of neo-Byzantine architecture that was built in 1919. 

It is located on rue Grande-Allée, one of the city's most touristy streets.

Noppen recalls how it was first sold and then "a developer who wanted to build a high-rise apartment building let it deteriorate until he could point to the potential 'public danger' it represented”.   

“He then obtained a notice to demolish it,” the architect says with dismay.  

A “lack of vision”

Other notable churches in the city, such as Saint-Louis-de-France, built in 1960, have also been destroyed recently.

Quebec's auditor general, who oversees parliamentary control of public funds, in 2020 denounced the province's inaction to protect its real estate and religious heritage. 

In a scathing report, she cited a "lack of vision and an absence of results… and coherence" that leaves municipalities to fend for themselves. 

The provincial government has a support program of nearly 18 million euros for the restoration and conversion of religious cultural heritage. 

But for Noppen, the envelope is not generous enough, given the number of buildings to be saved. 

"There is a long list of work that needs to be done," he says. 

But this is putting too much strain on parishes, which are "tired of playing the lottery to pay the bills".

If an incident occurs that requires new expenses, a parish sometimes has no choice but to close before the restoration is complete. 

Looking for partnerships to save the worship space 

Quebec's religious heritage council also believes that increased funding is needed to better meet the needs of parishes. 

Lacking the resources to save parish buildings, cities are all the more tempted not to oppose demolition to make way for private real estate development, and thus more tax revenue. 

The share of private purchasers for places of worship has actually increased from 34% to 38% since 2012.

But the Catholic dioceses of Quebec say that demolition is never the first solution considered by parishes. 

Rather, they prefer to forge partnerships with municipalities so the churches can remain open for worship while finding other functions for them, without major transformation. 

But for that to happen, "support from the different levels of government is not enough", Roberge-Dion, Quebec City archdiocese official, says.

Preventing churches from becoming warehouses or garages

Faced with citizens' demands to save churches, municipalities are getting more and more involved and buying up places in order to protect them.

Their share of ownership has risen from 17% to 24% over nine years.

"Cities are becoming aware of the historical importance of the buildings and their interest to preserve their heritage," notes Noppen. 

The city can then decide to change their use, partially or totally.

"If only this could prevent churches from becoming warehouses or garages, as I have seen," he says.

Andréanne Jalbert-Laramée, a member of Quebec's religious heritage council, cites the example of the small rural community of Saint-Stanislas between Montreal and Quebec City "where all the stores and services were closing”. 

"A former church became a rock climbing gym and a municipal library, while still holding Masses," she explains.

"All of that brought a lot of life back to the village” – she notes – “with the church at its center."