The Origins of Oncology in Canada: Montréal’s Institut du Radium

For nearly forty years, at the heart of the working-class neighbourhood of Maisonneuve in Montréal’s east end, stood a research institute taking the form of a small hospital that was once at the forefront of the fight against cancer.

In 1922, the announcement of the creation of Montréal’s Institut du radium [Radium Institute] was a momentous occasion that was met with much hope. This university research centre—the first ever in Québec—was to thrust the province into the great march of western scientific progress.

To this day, the many attempts at public history about the Radium Institute mostly focused on its role as a pioneer in the field of cancer treatments in Canada and its “genius” founder, Doctor Ernest Gendreau. And yet, the history of the Institute was far from uneventful. Its existence was plagued with issues of funding, office space and labour relations. This new exhibition invites you on a journey to uncover the complex inner workings and the diverse cast of characters that shaped the centre’s history.