Who We Are

The society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SSVP) is a Catholic lay organization of charity. Its primary goal and purpose is to minister to the poor, making no distinctions of creed, ethnic or social background, health, gender or political opinions. In serving the poor the members of the SSVP seek to promote the dignity of the marginalized by serving them with humility, compassion, respect and discretion.

The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul was founded by a 20 year old student of the Sorbonne named Frederick Ozanam as he and his fellow students gathered together to serve the needs of the poor in the slums of Paris in 1833. He believed strongly that Christianity was not just about ideas, but about deeds inspired by love. This was modelled on the saint, Vincent de Paul who was a priest in France  (1581-1660) and worked closely with the poor and was renowned for his compassion, humility and generosity. The SSVP has grown into a worldwide charity and was first brought to Canada in 1846.

Today in Canada the SSVP is broken down into national, provincial, regional and central councils, along with particular councils and conferences at the local parish level. The Lakeshore Particular Council consists of eight conferences spread out along Hwy 401 from Courtice to Brighton and as far north as Campbellford; also including Bowmanville, Newcastle, Port Hope, Cobourg and Grafton. The entire structure of SSVP works on the level of lay volunteers, giving freely of their time and energy to assist the poor and marginalized of our society.