Provincial Normal School, Victoria

The Provincial Normal School in Victoria was opened in 1915. It augmented the Provincial Normal School in Vancouver (1901). Although staff at the two facilities had different areas of expertise, the schools adhered to a common curriculum – as, for example, the Provinical Normal School Regulations and Courses of Study, 1928-1929.

The Victoria Normal School was located near Mt. Tolmie, by the corner of Lansdowne Road and Richmond Road. It was designed by Vancouver architect W. C. F. Gillam and erected by a well-known firm of Victoria contractors, Luney Bros.

The building still stands and is now the centre piece of Camosun College. The construction of the building, and its architectural significance, is described in Martin Segger & Douglas Franklin, Exploring Victoria's Architecture (Victoria: Sono Nis Press, 1996), pp. 189-191.

From 1915 to 1941, the building was used solely by the Provincial Normal School. In 1942, the building was turned over to the federal government for use as a military hospital. It became an educational facility again in 1946 and during the next decade the facility was shared by the Normal School and by Victoria College.

The Normal School closed in 1956 when teacher training was transferred to The University of British Columbia. Victoria College evolved into the University of Victoria (1963) which moved to a new campus at Gordon Head. The former Provincial Normal School building was subsequently used by the Victoria School Board for a new learning agency called the Institute of Adult Education. That institute became Camosun College in 1971.