The canonesses' origins were in the 13th century, when a group of women in France joined together to assist the Augustinian Hermit friars who cared for the poor and the sick at the Hôtel-Dieu of the fishing port of Dieppe.

They would visit and care for the destitute living in their hovels, or even lodging in caves hollowed into the cliffs of the region.

They also elected the Assistant Superior General, the Mistress of novices, the treasurer, and four other advisers, thus forming a council of eight principal officers.

By the 19th century they had communities in France at Dieppe, Rennes, Eu, Vitré, Château-Goutier-St-Julien, Château-Goutier-St-Joseph, Malestroit, Auray, Tréguier, Lannion, Guingamp, Morlaix, Pont-l'Abbé, Gouarec, Fougères, Harcourt, and Bayeux; and in Quebec, in addition to the foundations in the city of Quebec, there were communities in Lévis and Chicoutimi.

[4] During the Second World War, the canonesses of Dieppe ran an underground hospital, La Bimarine, where they cared for wounded French and Allied soldiers.

[4] Due to declining numbers, in 2015 the sisters closed Park House at Merseyside which had served as a convalescent home for soldiers during World War I.

[5] With the closing of Park House, the sisters from Liverpool joined with those of Boarbank and Ince Blundell Hall.