Eight years ago, the Monastère des Augustines changed its purpose. The hotel company now faces the same concerns as those who work in the same niche: labor shortages, inflation… But in this unusual place we are inspired by the Augustinian philosophy of managing business and people.
Published at 12:55 am. Updated at 05:00.
“The Augustines are considered one of the first communities of women entrepreneurs in the country,” says Isabelle Duchesneau, general director of the Monastère des Augustines. “They founded, built and managed hospitals,” she continues. They have done everything. »
About ten years ago, the Augustinians began remodeling their huge monastery in Old Quebec. They wanted to ensure the sustainability of the place as the group was declining and replacements were rare. The deliberations on preserving their heritage, a precursor to this change, had lasted more than 20 years.
“They asked themselves the question,” the Director General continues: “What do we do with this almost 400-year-old heritage?” »
The sisters never thought in silos. Your goal is to settle into a community, help it thrive, and care for it. They care about the individual, but they care about the collective.
Isabelle Duchesneau, General Director of the Augustinian Monastery
An innovative model
Before deciding what to do next, the sisters commissioned studies, workshops and consultations to determine how they could continue to serve the community differently. And possibly without them too.
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The 65-room hotel is the centerpiece of commercial activities and funds the Augustinians' mission. The company now employs 130 people.
This led to the creation in 2009 of two organizations, an NPO (Monastère des Augustines) and a foundation whose mission is to protect the Augustinian heritage, including this incredible monastery, its artifacts and archives. The trust that owns the building takes care of its maintenance. She is also the guardian of the Augustinians' intentions. “They ensured that everything that would ultimately happen in the monastery would be done with the intention of protecting their memory,” explains Isabelle Duchesneau. It's in the constitution. That's life. »
Isabelle Duchesneau has been in the monastery since 2012, when the renovation began. His task: to build a business model for this atypical company that had very clear intentions.
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“The sisters have left us their tangible and intangible legacy. And in intangible heritage there is their way of managing. It is extraordinary to deal with this,” says Isabelle Duchesneau, general director of the Monastère.
The monastery is considered an innovative business model, especially in the world of social economy. We often think of NPOs as just subsidized organizations.
Isabelle Duchesneau, general director of the monastery
However, this is not the case here as 80% of the resources come from internal income, the majority of which comes from rooms. Another 15% comes from public funds, particularly for specific projects, and the remaining 5% comes from philanthropic funds. This excludes the public investments necessary for the transformation right at the start of the project.
Be careful
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Meditation Session in the Vaults: The Augustinian Monastery was the first hospital in North America.
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There are two types of rooms in the hotel. This is an “authentic” room with shared bathrooms.
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The modern room in the more comfortable category has a private bathroom.
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Breakfast is eaten in silence, a ritual that dates back to the 6th century among the Augustinians. The monastery has decided to honor and preserve this intangible heritage.
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Annie Labrecque, archivist. In addition to the hotel, the monastery houses a museum and has an archive fund recognized in the UNESCO World Register.
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The magnificent Augustinian Museum
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A difficult context
The niche of global health and wellness tourism was chosen to fit the Augustinian philosophy, but it also came at the right time: what we call “wellness” tourism in English is booming.
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The monastery has built its corporate culture to continue the values of the sisters, now and on the day when there are no more sisters in the monastery. The challenge will be to pass this philosophy on to future generations.
People travel to become better. They integrate treatments or exercise into their vacation. We want to recharge our batteries. The Augustines environment offers just that.
From the outset, there was no denying to me that the monastery had the potential for international influence.
Isabelle Duchesneau, general director of the monastery
In 2020, the monastery achieved its budget balance, explains the general director. And despite the pandemic, which has hit the hotel industry, surpluses were generated in the following years 2021 and 2022.
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Five Augustinians still live in the Quebec monastery. From left to right: Sister Carmelle Bisson, Sister Lise Tanguay, Sister Sylvie Morin, Sister Berthe Lemay and Sister Sarah Mc Donald.
This year everything is different: inflation is catching up with the monastery. Also for a wellness niche. Capacity utilization is still around 70%, but costs are not keeping up. People choose cheaper rooms and shop less in the boutique, explains the director, who is working on revising the business plan.
The mission remains: well-being, what starts with yourself. In this sense, the Augustinians were pioneers. They lived in the present moment long before the discourse was taken over by the wellness industry.
This mission is still fulfilled today, in particular by allowing a specific clientele to find peace in the monastery, which offers a solidarity rate for caregivers, carers or people who need to go to Quebec to accompany a sick person. Surpluses from recent years were redistributed for these social programs.
“The sisters have done this in the past. To manage their hospitals, they offered the rich real dishes and luxury cutlery, recalls Isabelle Duchesneau. They took her to paid private rooms. With this money they took in the poorest people free of charge. »
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And religion?
“Religion is experienced in a historical aspect,” says Isabelle Duchesneau. There are no Buddhas in the monastery. We will find statues of the Virgin and Jesus. It is our heritage, it is our collective history. But we are not advocating religion, we are advocating spirituality in the broadest sense. »